Two Halves, One Whole
by Coralian Exorcist
Summary: There are two sides to a coin. No matter which side you're on it's still the same coin. Allen has a chance first hand to experience this. So does his Noah. AllenxLenalee. Noah!Allen. LenaleeXAllen. Changed title from "Dance With Me"
1. One bad night

Allen shot straight up in his bed as a stabbing pain resonated throughout his body. The screaming pain seemed to start at the red pentacle on his forehead and work its way throughout his body, burning his heart, his chest, his legs. His chest felt as if it was being stabbed over and over again, jabbed in many directions, too many to count. Another wave of pain came and he screamed out, squeezing his chest where is heart was with both hands. His left arm was growing and shrinking, activating and returning to its original red form, as if the innocence was trying to escape the pain. Slowly the pain started to subside, with each wave becoming less and less fierce.

Allen, by that time, felt was if his heart had exploded. Suddenly he felt queasy and barely managed to learn off the bed before he vomited on floor. Slowly lying back down on his pillow, he stared at the ceiling in the almost complete darkness. It was a new moon, so there was no light.

"_What_," Allen thought, "_was that_?"

He turned over slowly and painfully. "_I'll just ask Hevlaska if she knows anything about it._" He thought as he tried to drift back to sleep.

--

"Oh, ho, ho." The Millennium Earl chuckled gleefully. He was sitting on the bench in front of his massive organ, playing a melodious tune. Swiftly his not-too-chubby fingers ran over the keys like pixies, pressing each key perfectly in sync with another. Road had been lying on the ground with her chin on her hands and her feet swinging in the air, listening to the Earl's playing.

"What is it?" Road asked, the swinging of her legs never stopping.

"It seems that a child is awakening." The Earl just continued to play his organ, his fingers moving faster and faster. "It also seems to be within one of our enemies." As he did so, the pleasant tune became more violent and full of hate. Soon the Earls hands were near a blur, and the song was an evil one, full of hate and wrath. "It seems to be Allen Walker." Suddenly he slammed to a stop on two high minor chords, sending a hissing scream throughout the room.

"Really?! Maybe then he'll stay with us!" Road said happily as she jumped up, unperturbed by the Earl's frightful melody.

"Maybe so, but don't get your hopes up. You know who he is with. At least until they chase him out, that is." The Earl stood up from the bench and walked towards the doorway.

"We'll, when those exorcists chase him out, I'll take him in with open arms." Road smiled, spreading her arms to emphasize as she followed the Earl.

"I have work to do now, Road. Why don't you go see what Tyki is doing?" The Earl said suddenly as he looked at a pocket watch that appeared from nowhere.

"Aw, do you have to?" Road whined.

"Yes, sorry my dear Road. I'll play with you when I get back, okay?"

"Ugh, fine." She said as she went through the doorway and down the halls. "Tyki!" She shouted. As she ran down the endless hallways, she looked in each and every door. As she threw herself through one door, catching the door frame to keep from falling, she ran face first into Tyki, who at the time was currently leaving, or trying to leave the room. Sprawled on the ground, the book that Tyki had had in his hand was on his face and his cigarette was burning a hole in the back of Road's shirt.

"Hot!" She jumped straight up and ferociously rubbed her back, trying to dislodge the burning tobacco. Standing up, Tyki grumbled and took the open book off his face.

He marked the page he was on and placed the book between his arm and side, holding it in place. Tyki then reached into his back pocket and brought out a pack of cigarettes, took one, then reached for his lighter. "And what, might I ask, were you running for?"

"Come play with me!" Road said happily and eagerly. She had finally managed to brush the cigarette off of her shirt.

"No," Was Tyki's flat out reply.

"What?" Road whined, her smile dropping into a pouting frown. "You owe me! Your stupid cigarette burned my back!" she pointed over her shoulder and down at the hole burned in the fabric of her shirt.

"That was your own fault." Tyki took a drag on his cigarette. Slowly he started to walk in the direction that Road had come from, the Earl's organ room. Road followed shortly behind, angry at Tyki and trying to get him to play.

"Maybe you shouldn't just randomly walk into people's way!" She huffed.

"Maybe you should look where you're going." Tyki replied as he opened his book and started to read. Even with his nose buried in his book, he continued on at the same brisk pace.

"Maybe you should look at your surroundings!" Road was getting angrier at Tyki. Each of her footsteps became steadily heaver, until it seemed that her goal was to put dents in the floor.

"I shouldn't have to, because you should be looking at where you're going. Do you _have_ to stomp so much? You look so uncivilized like that," Tyki said, calm as ever. He took another drag and flipped a page. Without looking up, he turned right into one of the open doorways, and sat down on the single deep purple chair in the room. With his head on his fist that was propped up on the arm rest, he flipped another page and took another drag. The fiery orange ring steadily crawled up the shaft.

Sighing, Road just plopped down on the floor on her stomach and waited for Tyki to give in. Acting as if he had forgotten that his sister was there, he flipped another page.

"Are you actually reading that book there?" Road said.

Tyki looked at Road, a blank, uninterested expression on his face. "What?" He stared at her.

"That book," She pointed, rolling to her side some to make it easier for her to point from her lying down position. "You're changing pages way too fast to actually be reading it."

"I read fast." He went back to his book, and flipped another page. His cigarette was getting short.

"That fast isn't possible."

Looking up from his book again, Tyki scanned the room and saw Relo sleeping in a corner. "Go play with Relo." He flicked the butt of the cigarette to the floor and ground it with the heel of his shiny black shoe.

"Ugh. Fine, seeing as you won't," She said as she picked up and swung a half-awake Relo around.

Barely awake, Relo cried, "Wha-? Help! Earl-tama! Waah! Relo."

--

Allen couldn't sleep. After his strange pain attack he hadn't been able to fall back asleep. So he sat there on the edge of his bed at four in the morning and mumbled his thoughts out loud to himself.

Miranda wasn't sleeping, as usual. So she had been in Jerry's kitchen getting herself a late night snack. She was walking slowly on the way back to her room for fear of tripping and making a big noise when she heard the mutterings coming from behind Allen's door.

_Why would Allen-kun be up at this hour_? Miranda thought to herself. She looked left and right in the almost non-existent light, and listened for any other sounds, other than the murmurings in Allen's room.

Hearing no one else, Miranda looked back to the door and raised her hand. She got ready to knock, but hesitated a moment. _Should I intrude? Allen-kun might not want me here, and he might only be talking in his sleep._ Miranda fretted.

But suddenly the murmurings stopped. Noticing the sudden change in volume, Miranda placed her ear on the door, listening for any sound.

As she listened, she tried to be as quiet as possible by breathing gently through her nose. Suddenly, she felt a sneeze coming on.

_Oh no! Not now_! She thought frantically. She tried to hold it in, but much to her dismay, it only became stronger. "Ah-ah-ah-CHOO" Her sneeze seemed to resonate throughout the entire castle, bouncing off every wall, nook and cranny, only growing louder and louder to Miranda's dismay. She thought that all of the Dark Order must be awake by now. Then suddenly it stopped. Miranda sighed in relief, and turned around to have her face two inches from Allen's. Miranda shrieked, and jumped almost two feet in the air, only to land wrong on her feet and fall flat on her back, knocking all the wind out of her. Allen cringed at all the noise the older woman was making.

"What? Miranda!" He said in a hushed voice. "What're you doing here?" He helped her up as soon as she had finally gotten her breath back

"Sorry, Allen-kun," She whispered back. "I was on my way back to my room, when I heard your voice coming from inside."

"Oh. Well, come inside and sit down. Then we'll have some light and we'll be able to talk a little louder," He turned to the side and held out his arm as to gesture Miranda in first. After she went in, Allen shut the door softly behind him.

Walking into the room, Miranda surveyed the contents. It was her first time in his room, after all. She looked first as his disheveled bed, a mess from his attack earlier. The next thing she went to was the painting on his wall. She thought that the Moon and the clown made for an eerie atmosphere. The small wooden desk and chair in the corner livened up the room a little bit – made it seem more homely.

"So is there anything you want to talk about?" Allen asked as he pulled his desk chair over and offered it to Miranda who accepted. Allen himself went and sat down on the edge of his bed. He looked down, and tossed a bit of his sheets over the mess he made on the floor.

In the light, Miranda could see Allen better, and the first thing she noticed were the bags under his eyes. Allen was almost always clean kept. His clothes never have any crinkles in them, he was -- for the most part – well groomed, and she had never seen him look so tired and defeated. He had big, black bags under his bloodshot eyes, and his snow white hair was a mess. It looked as if Allen had been thrashing around at some point or another. "_It would explain the bed_" Miranda thought.

"No, not really. I'm sorry to bother you like this, Allen-kun." Miranda apologized. "It's just I heard some noise from here and wondered if everything was alright."

Allen looked a little startled at this, then regained his composure and smiled faintly. "Oh, it was nothing. Just a bad dream." Somehow, to Miranda, the smile looked fake. She also noted that it seemed that, even though Allen was looking at her, he wasn't seeing her.

"Well, I've wasted too much of your time. I have to be off to bed!" She said hurriedly. For some reason, she felt the strong urge to leave the boy alone for awhile

Allen stood up and opened the door for her. "Good night, Miranda," He said gently as she walked though the door.

"Yes. Good night, Allen-kun," She hurriedly said in a hushed whisper as she gently closed the door behind her. She took a step forward and her foot caught on a little nook in the floor, causing her to fall flat on her face. She scrambled up and dusted herself off quickly, but just before she left, she heard him mutter:

"All just a bad dream..."

* * *

Hello, all. For those who were with me before, and for those of you who are new, welcome. Welcome to my fanfiction, welcome to my story. Welcome to my own tale, following the events of the defeat of the Level 4 Akuma in -man. I hope you all will come to like and enjoy my story, as I know some of you already do. I won't force any of you to review, but they would be appreciated and will be replied to if you choose to do be kind.

I shall be updating every Saturday night or Sunday morning. I have 25 chapters typed, but that does not mean they they cannot be edited. Constructive criticism very much appreciated, as I am well aware that my writing is not the best.

Welcome to my realm, and I hope you enjoy the ride.


	2. Dance With Me

Road was bored. After playing with Relo for an hour, Relo had had enough. From being swung around to being shot deadly flaming candles at by his master, he wasn't wasn't feeling good. So after a plead and a word from Tyki, who had switched to another book, Road let the Golem cry himself miserably back to sleep. She flopped back down on the floor in front of Tyki.

"So, are ya gonna play with me yet," She asked and she started the ever existent swinging of her legs again.

"Nope." Tyki turned a page. Road sighed.

"Tyki-pon! I have a job for you and Road!" A voice came from the doorway.

Tyki sighed and stood up. He had drained his cigarette so he ground the butt with his heel again. "Earl-sama, please don't call me that." He lit up another cigarette and took a few breaths to get it going.

"Earl!" Road shouted and she got up and dove at the Earl, hugging him around the neck.

"Oh ho, ho, ho. Hello Road," He laughed, patting her on the shoulder.

"Now, I need you two to go see how far Allen's transformation has become."

"Transformation?" Tyki raised an eyebrow, taking a drag.

"Yea," Road dropped from the Earl's neck, "Allen's turning into one of us!"

"But will he be willing to join us?"

"We... don't know," Road's grin pulled into a slight frown.

"I would love if it you invaded the Head Quarters, Tyki-pon," The Millennium Earl said gleefully.

"Okay then." Tyki started for the door. "We'll be back in an hour," he said as he turned the corner, followed by Road.

--

Despite his lack of sleep, Allen was up at six-thirty on the dot, and by six-thirty five he was ready to go. Hair neatly combed, clothes straight and without wrinkles, his bed showed no sign of his attack, his mess was cleaned up and disposed of, and the bags under his eyes were a little less noticeable.

Figuring he had time to waste, Allen decided to exercise a little bit. So grabbing his chair, he stood it on the corner, with the chair balancing on one leg with Allen gripping the back of the chair with his right arm. With his left arm behind his back, he slowly he bent his right arm until it was a perfect ninety degrees. Slowly he straightened his arm, until he was completely erect again. Then he went back down, then back up. Down. Up. Down. Up. He repeated this over several hundred times, and when he flipped back down, setting the chair on all fours, it was still only seven o'clock. So, deciding to go down and get an early breakfast, Allen jogged towards the door, opened it, and ran straight into Lenalee who had her hand up, about to knock on the door to greet him.

Sprawled on the ground, Lenalee and Allen were in a sort of daze.

Regaining his senses, Allen suddenly realized that he was lying on top of Lenalee. Jumping up, he apologized.

"I'm sorry, Lenalee! It was an accident!" He bowed from his waist. Lenalee just stood up, brushed herself off, sighed, and then smiled sweetly.

"Good morning, Allen-kun."

"Ah. Good morning, Lenalee." He tried to regain some of his composure.

"I was just coming up to invite you to have breakfast with me. Would you care to join?"

"Of course!" He responded happily.

"Then I will meet you in the cafeteria. I'm going to go ask Lavi as well," she smiled again. "If he's up," she added, giggling slightly. Being with Allen always put her in an unusually giggly and happy mood.

"Okay then. I'll see you there," Allen said as he headed towards the stairs, with Lenalee heading the opposite direction. Further along the hallway, Allen turned a corner and saw Miranda heading towards him.

"Ah! Allen-kun, did you have a good night's rest?" She asked. The woman looked like she had not slept that night – which was likely.

"Yes, Miranda, I did," Allen replied, ever so polite. "Would you like to join Lenalee, perhaps Lavi, and I for breakfast?"

"That would be wonderful!" She smiled, and she and Allen fell in step towards the cafeteria. Halfway there, the passed a ladder, only to hear a shout: "Look out!" and Allen had to pull Miranda away from a horrible death-by-ceiling because one of the finders accidentally knocked a bit of the ceiling out as he was checking for any infestations.

Farther along their walk, Allen and Miranda encountered Reever, who had an arm full of papers.

"It's paperwork for Komui to sign," He grumbled. The Head Supervisor had a knack for disappearing when he was needed most; particularly when paperwork was involved.

Reever then tripped and sent his pile of papers flying.

After they helped pick the documents all up, Miranda and Allen finally reached the cafeteria, with Lenalee and Lavi already at a table. Miranda only got one ham and cheese omelet and went to sit next to Lavi.

Allen, on the other hand, ordered four ham and cheese omelets; twelve massive cinnamon pancakes; two plates worth of hash browns; the largest bowl Jerry had full of soba; A large platter of sushi; three entire roasted chickens; and half of a triple-chocolate-cake.

Allen really was Jerry's favorite customer.

If anything, all of Allen's friends and the rest of the staff in Head Quarters had gotten used to the incredible amount of food the boy consumed. What still amazed Lavi was that the boy could carry his entire order on one miniscule tray, and not spill a single drop. He just smiled and shook his head as the white-haired exorcist plopped down next to Lenalee, setting his tray on the table with a resounding _clack_.

Allen turned his head and grinned at Lenalee, if only because anywhere else he tried to look was blocked by a mountain of food. Lenalee smiled back at the boy, wondering were all of that food went to in his small, frail body.

"Wow, Allen. Only _half_ of a chocolate cake?" Lavi laughed as he eyed the tray that had bowls and plates balanced precariously on it.

"Mmmhmm," Allen hummed out through his already overstuffed mouth. Lavi looked at the tray and saw that one of the chickens was gone.

Allen swallowed his mouthful, and everyone, except for Miranda as all she could see was a wall of food, watched a noticeable bulge slide down his throat.

"I'm trying to watch my weight," Allen said solemnly.

Lenalee nearly choked on the hash brown she was eating, and Lavi _did_ choke on his food. Miranda had already finished her Omelet, however.

"You're trying to watch your weight?" Lavi tried to say as he attempted, and failed, to retain his laughter.

Allen's food-happy grin shifted a bit. "Yes, I am, actually," he sniffed.

"But Allen-kun, you don't have much weight anyways! It's amazing you can eat so much!" Miranda voiced from across the table.

"Allen-kun, if you're hungry, go ahead and eat as much as you want." Lenalee smiled at Walker. "You aren't going to get overweight," she laughed.

Allen laughed as well, soon joined by Miranda, and their table loudly informed the entire cafeteria of their joyous morning. An aftereffect of that was that everyone also felt a little happier, looking forward to their day.

"Shut the hell up, damn Bean Sprout and Rabbit!"

Well, everyone except Kanda.

"Aww, catch the mood, Yuu! It's no fun when you're such a sad-sack!" Lavi complained in-between breaths of his calming laughter.

"Yeah, come on, Kanda. Cheer up!" Lenalee agreed with Lavi.

"Che. Noisy," Kanda grumbled as he took his empty soba bowl to Jerry.

Lavi turned back to his friends. "Such a party-pooper," he rolled his eyes with a grin. That earned him a few more chuckles.

Looking over, Kanda was almost at the cafeteria entrance when it happened.

A shake resounded throughout the whole building, followed by an explosion from wall furthest from the entrance to the dining hall. Stepping over the rubble and into the mass confusion were Tyki Mikk and Road Kamelot.

"Homely place you guys got here," Tyki stated as he surveyed the room, hands in his pockets.

"Our home is so much better, though," Road replied to the statement that wasn't intended for her.

"Mugen," Kanda hissed as he flew through the air, drawing said weapon.

A purple shield in the shape of a butterfly appeared on Tyki's left arm, and he batted away the flying exorcist.

"Geez, what a nice reception," Tyki mumbled sarcastically.

"The Order has never been very nice," Road replied.

Tyki looked to his side just in time to see a black boot flying towards him. He just barely managed to sink into the floor before it touched him, letting Lenalee sail over both him and Road.

"Attack," Tyki said quietly as he fell into the floor.

Two level four appeared out of nowhere and stabbed Lenalee in the chest before she had time to react.

"Yes, Noah-sama," they replied monotonously before slinging Lenalee's body to the floor.

"NO!" Allen and Lavi cried out as they swung Sword and Hammer at the two Akuma, who simply dodged by jumping backwards out through the hole Tyki and Road had created.

"Damn it! Allen, get Lenalee, I'll take these two," Lavi shouted before charging to his doom.

"Miranda!" Allen called for the woman, but Tyki beat Allen to her, and easily crushed the defenseless woman.

"Too late," Tyki smiled at Allen as he removed his hand from Miranda's chest, carrying a bloody mass. The exorcist fell to the floor, already dead.

"STOP IT!" Allen screamed, clutching Lenalee's bloody body. He set her down gingerly, and sprinted past Road while drawing his sword.

"DAMN YOU!" He cried as he swung at Tyki, who blocked easily.

"What's wrong, boy?" He grinned as he leaned closer to a hysterical Allen.

Tyki coughed blood, and his eyes went wide. He looked down to see a blade protruding from his chest. Because Allen distracted him, Tyki didn't see Kanda charging from behind.

Taking a firm grip on his blade, Kanda dragged Mugen all the way down Tyki, nearly cutting the Noah in half.

"Tyki!" Road cried out as her brother fell to the floor. She summoned razor-sharp candles all around the two exorcists, effectively preventing them from moving. She walked and stumbled across the now-deserted cafeteria to her brother, and fell to her knees in front of his body.

Kanda clenched his teeth and attempted to move. The candles surrounding him got so close that they poked him when he inhaled.

"Don't you dare try to move," Road mumbled with a deadly viciousness as she clutched Tyki's body.

Allen fought to control his tears. If he moved too much he would be stabbed.

"Don't think this is over, Exorcists," Road mumbled again, without looking up from Tyki's dead body. Without saying a word more, she opened one of her heart-shaped doors beneath her and fell into it, along with Tyki's body.

The moment the doors closed, the candles disappeared. Allen fell to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Kanda clenched Mugen so tightly that his knuckles were purely white from lack of blood flow. He sprinted towards the open wall to help Lavi, praying that his friend was still alive. He arrived at the hole, with the golden sunlight filtering in.

For the first time ever in his life, Kanda cried.

Looking ahead of him, he saw the gruesome battleground of the exorcist who gave his life gallantly defending the Order. All of the grass was torched and burned away, with trails of the fire going straight up the Order's outside wall. Covering the entire landscape were holes where the grass and ground had been torn up by Akuma bullets. Turning his head, Kanda saw that the wall was completely spider webbed, with several points of origin. The cheery, red-haired exorcist had been thrown against the wall well more than five times.

And in the center of everything, Kanda saw the cheery exorcist's battered clothes lying in a crumpled heap that was covered with ashes. A glowing cube was lying on top of the pile of clothes. The wind picked up, and the ashes softly scattered into the wind. A black eye patch was lying slightly off to the side of the rest of the clothes. Kanda walked slowly over to it, wondering what the strange liquid trickling from his eyes was.

He gingerly picked up the eye patch and held it in his hand, remembering Lavi, the closest thing he had to a friend in the Order.

He looked at the eye patch for a moment more, before clenching his hand, crushing the eyewear.

"Che."

--

Allen cried so hard that he threw up on the floor. He choked and coughed, and the rage flared inside him before mixing with the sadness.

"_Do you want to fix it?"_

Allen stopped for a moment, startled by the voice. He whipped his head around, sending tears scattering in the light, shimmering like tiny diamonds in the sun.

"Who's there!?" He cried out.

"_Let me show you what you can do with my power," _Allen heard the voice say.

"What?!"

"_Come, dance with me," _Allen heard right before he fell into darkness.

Allen Walker's skin turned grey, eyes turned black with yellow irises, and seven black stigmata appeared on his forehead. The Noah stood up and summoned an Arc gate and stepped thorough it. He turned his head just before passing through, and saw the rest of the order coming to the rescue, far too late.

--

A gate opened up, and Allen stepped out, his skin now turning back to its whitish color, and the crosses on his head disappearing. Where he was looked familiar, and he couldn't remember how he got there. What happened to the cafeteria?

Desperate to know what happened to Lenalee, Lavi and Miranda, he rushed down the hallway and turned a corner. He stopped and stared, as standing before him was Miranda.

"Ah! Allen-kun, did you have a good night's rest?" She asked cheerfully.

--

In a forest some week's walk from the Dark Order, a tall, slender girl, no more than fourteen years of age, ran desperately. Her shoulder-length brown hair was tangled and dirty; the pants and shirt that she wore were far from new, they were now just dirty rags. Her battered and old shoes looked about two sizes too small, and parts of her toes were poking through. Her deep, clear blue eyes held a look of sheer terror, one of a child who was convicted of murder and was running for her life. Which was what she just happened to be convicted of.

She paused for a moment, bent over in pure exhaustion. Her right arm buckled for a moment, and her shirt fell to the side, momentarily revealing what looked like a tattoo of a pair wings on her back.

The left one was pure white and had an angelic look to it, while the other was pitch black. That one had a feel of the devil attached to it. The wings could have probably be passed as that of a tattoo, except for the green cross looking gem that rested where the two opposite wings connected. That, and that the lines that made up the wings seemed to be engraved into the skin it self, forever binding them with the girl.

Her innocence glowed brightly.

There was one more outstand difference of the girl, and that was the now-fading black crosses on her forehead. As the crosses finished fading from view, the girl heard more shouts of men, and barking of the dogs that were tracking her scent.

"She's this way!" she heard one of the sounds that could be identified in the midst of ferocious barking and angry shouting.

"Get the demon!"

She cringed when she heard that. All her life she had been called a "Demon," or, "Devil," or, "Witch!" Her own parents had even abandoned her. So, she stood straight again, her shirt falling back to place, covering her wings, and took off again.

'Got to find the Dark Order.' She thought to herself.

"_Bah! What's a misfit group like them going to be able to do to help you? You're better off alone. Like me_." The girl saw herself talking, though the reflection had dark skin and crosses on her forehead, and there was no green glow of innocence shining from her back.

_We don't know that yet. So just shut up, and stop getting me into trouble!_ The innocence wielding girl thought harshly.

Suddenly the dogs were upon her. From out of nowhere, the four beasts lunged at her, jaws gnashing, eyes wild. And with the dogs came the men shortly after.

"Witch! Murderer!" The men circled her, watching the dogs tear up the frightened girl.

All of a sudden the glow on her back died out, and the seven stigmata reappeared on her forehead. Throwing the dogs at some of the men, she stood up, eyes full of rage and hate.

"My name is Anna." she hissed. Suddenly, the crosses were gone, and the innocence Anna was back. The two wings on her back took physical form and grew in size, before she was carried off into the black sky, leaving the stunned men behind.

--

_**Hey, everyone? Like the chapter, I hope? It was extra long. **_

_**Now those of you who were with me from Two Halves, One Whole, you probably can tell that I changed this chapter. Kind of a lot. Like, a whooole lot. And I'm sorry if I made it seem like everyone was killed off way too easily. It was all supposed to be sudden, and what're you supposed to do about that kind of thing? Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it enough to review, and tell me something good and or bad about the chapter. Remember, all in the name of improving my writing! Anyways, I hope you all will stick with me for the next chapter. It won't be so bad, I hope :)**_

_**Thanks for reviewing, if you choose to do so! I won't hate you if you don't, though! :D**_

_**Well, I'll see you all next time!**_


	3. A Nice Reception

"Ah! Allen-kun, did you have a good night's rest?" Miranda asked. She looked like she had not slept that night, which was likely. The older Exorcist had a habit of staying up for long periods of time.

"W-wha? Miranda... you...back...over...died...what?" Allen stumbled over his words, dumbstruck by the sudden appearance of his once-deceased friend. Tears started to well up unexpectedly in his eyes.

"Wh-what? Did I say something wrong?" Miranda said in sudden paranoia over her friend's crying.

"No, no. I'm just... glad." Allen straightened up. A painful look suddenly flashed in his eyes – as if he just remembered something – and he became more serious. "Miranda, we don't have much time. I need your help." Allen said, his voice suddenly laced with urgency.

"U-uh, okay? Sure, I-I'll help."

"Go and alert all the Generals – Master, Cloud, Tiedoll, everybody. Tell them to come to the cafeteria _immediately_." He emphasized strongly on the last part.

"Okay... Why?"

"Just... do it. Please. It's a life or death matter." Allen grabbed Miranda's shoulders with both hands.

"Okay! I'm going, right now." She hurried off in the direction of Cross's room.

"Run!" He called after her. She needed to alert everyone immediately.

Allen went his own way down the hall, towards the cafeteria. Passing a ladder, he quickly side-stepped the falling bit of ceiling, something that would have certainly slowed him down had it landed on him.

Shortly he saw Reever with his arms full of papers. Quickly Allen stopped him from tripping. "I need you to get all the talismans you can and come to the cafeteria along with some finders. Send the message to everyone. You have less than ten minutes." Allen said hurriedly, pushing Reever in the direction he was going.

"What?" The confused man said over his shoulder.

"Just do it!" The urgency in the order had the man scurrying.

When Allen reached the cafeteria, he saw Lenalee waving to him from the table she was sitting at with Lavi. The sight of Lenalee once again brought tears to his eyes, and a whole lot more. Allen's feelings took himself by surprise. He sped on, walking brusquely toward the table. "Lenalee, Lavi. Get up now, please." He put his hands on the table and leaned against them.

"What's wrong, Allen?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, so you're just going to have to trust me. Please. We don't have much time." Allen's voice was growing sterner, more demanding. His fear for losing his beloved again was growing.

"Uh, Allen. People are looking..." Lavi looked around wearily are the staring faces.

"I. Don't. Care. Get. Up!" Allen never ordered that anyone do anything. Something was defiantly wrong.

"Okay! We're getting up!" Lenalee said, standing up. "Now what?"

"You god-damned apprentice, I was sleeping!" Cross shouted angrily from across the room as he walked through the doorway.

"What's General Cross doing here?" Lenalee asked.

"A-Allen-kun! I brought them!" Miranda said from her place walking behind Cross. Behind her followed Cloud Nyne, Froi Tiedoll and Winters Zokalo.

"So what was so damned important that you sent this lovely lady," Cross waived towards Miranda with a sweep of his hand, "to wake me up?" Nevertheless, though, his hand bore his gun Judgment. All of the Generals had their Anti-Akuma weapons and Tiedoll with The Maker of Eden. Zokalo's Innocence was still inactivated. He saw no point in releasing his weapon. Lau Jimin jumped on Nyne's shoulder.

"What have you summoned us all for, Allen?" Cloud Nyne asked the white haired boy. In her hand she held her long whip.

"There is going to be an attack."

"What do you mean?" She continued, curious now.

"What the hell are you talking about, you smelly, ugly apprentice?" Cross barked.

"Cross!" Nyne shouted curtly at the other General, cutting him off from any further insults.

"You probably won't believe me, so you're just going to have to trust me."

"Why wouldn't we trust you?" Lavi asked.

"What's going on? What're you doing Bean sprout." Kanda cut in abruptly, tray of soba in hand.

"I... went back in time." Lavi tried to hold in his laughter, and Cross scoffed. Tiedoll had a sympathetic look along with Cloud Nyne. Zokalo wasn't even looking at the boy anymore. Lenalee looked at Allen with a look of disbelief.

"You must have just had a bad dream. Are you experiencing any troubles in your life recently? Are you troubled by all the death you see?" Tiedoll said soothingly. It was obvious that none of them believe Allen.

"You really are and idiot, aren't you?" Cross scoffed at his apprentice.

It's true! Tyki Mikk and Road Kamelot invaded us with two level four Akuma! They broke that wall right there," Allen pointed in exasperation at the wall that he had seen be blown to pieces, "and came in! Everybody here died! Lavi, Miranda, all of the Finders, Lenalee..." There was a strange softness in his voice as he trailed off after the mention of that last name.

"Stupid Bean Sprout." Kanda sneered and left the group to sit at an empty table. He promptly started eating as soon as he sat down.

"It's Allen!"

"Why am I still here? Damn. Waking up just to listen to some baby's nightmare?" Zokalo fumed.

"It wasn't a nightmare!" Allen screamed as he slammed his left hand on the table. The table cracked and splintered in a large area around his hand, and when he lifted the reddish brown arm, the hand print was clearly embedded in the wood.

He looked at the table beneath his hand. It was so frustrating that they didn't believe him. He wouldn't see Lenalee die again.

He still didn't know how he traveled back in time, but that didn't matter now.

From behind them, Reever burst into the room, talisman in hand and a group of finders in tail. Each one had a talisman with them, and one carried a box with several more, which he dispensed to a few of the other finders already in the cafeteria. Reever walked up and set his talisman on the indented table with a _clunk_.

"Got 'em. What did you need them for anyways?" Reever stated.

"You are such a stupid, dirty, ugly, smelly, snot-nosed, stinking, retarded, bean-sprouted, bird-brained, boneheaded, bad apprentice!" Cross lined out the insults like he had rehearsed them.

"I am not!" Allen turned on his master.

"They are going to burst through that wall," He pointed again at the cafeteria wall, "any minute now!" Allen turned his back to Cross and the rest of the generals.

Clenching his teeth in anger at his disbelieving friends and superiors, he yanked his arm into the sword of Exorcism.

"Allen. I'm sure it was just a bad dream." Lenalee walked up to Allen and put her hand on his shoulder. The bracelets of her innocence around her ankles clicked against one another every so often.

Allen angrily shrugged the gentle hand off. "It wasn't a dream. I'm sure of it. I'm Positive. It was too real. I saw you...get...," He struggled to continue; his throat was tightening, reluctant to let any more words come out. "...Killed." The tip of his sword gently touched the ground – the hand that bore it was quickly waning of strength. The crowd just watched in solemn silence.

Allen then gripped the hilt tighter, and stood straighter. "Not again. I will never see that again. I don't want to. I _won't_ see it again." Allen steeled his resolve.

"Any moment now." He turned back to the group of finders, friends, and generals – all of whom he held dear.

"Bah. Screw this. I'm going back to bed. Dumbass baby." Zokalo muttered the last sentence as he stormed towards the door.

"Wait!" Allen called after him, but was promptly ignored.

"I'm going too. Nothing is happening, Stupid apprentice." Cross followed suit of Zokalo, who had reached the doorway. He scratched the back of his head with the butt of Judgment and yawned.

"You too! Get back here!"

"Allen, what you saw was obviously a nightmare. You'll get over it." Nyne said with a caring but sad smile. She turned to leave as well, Lau Jimin jumping from shoulder to shoulder.

"Allen-kun..." was all Miranda said.

Lenalee still stood at Allen's side, and was joined by Lavi. "So, Allen, when is this 'attack' going to happen?" He put his arm around the younger boy's shoulders in a friendly sort of way.

"Soon." Allen was not saddened by the unbelief of his friends. It even seemed to make him more determined. If they weren't going to help him protect the Order, then he would just have to make up for that himself.

Lavi found himself starting to believe the boy, which startled him. The same went for Lenalee. The strength with which he believed this... unlikelihood, was startling. It was like he had actually been there.

He had a strange look in his eyes, Lenalee noted, as he stared straight at the wall of the cafeteria.

"Lenalee. Get ready." He said suddenly. He had been stony silent for the past minute. Froi was the only general left, and all the finders seemed lost: should they stay? Or should they leave the boy?

Unsure, Lenalee activated her innocence, if only to comfort the boy. She still didn't completely believe him, but she felt compelled to do as the Destroyer of Time wished. Lavi did as well, but he was the same as Lenalee – unsure, but compelled to do so.

Tiedoll noted with interest the three young exorcists. Allen slowly lowered himself, getting in a stance that suggested he was going to sprint at any given moment. Lenalee found herself automatically following suit.

Froi himself was just turning to leave as a shake took the building hold and the wall suddenly vanished in a cloud of dust. Stepping over the rubble and into the chaos were Tyki Mikk and Road Kamelot.

Froi spun around to view the cafeteria that was in confusion, but the white hared boy was gone, along with Lenalee. Lavi had just sprinted forward, heading towards the wall.

"Maker of Eden," Froi jammed the chisel and cross together before smashing them into the ground. Two purely white giants climbed up out of the ground, barely able to stand in the cafeteria.

"God damn it. I'm never going to hear the end of this." Cross swore to himself as he sprinted back in the direction he came from.

"The baby wasn't lying!" Zokalo laughed at the coming battle he imagined. He too, sprinted towards the cafeteria.

"Why are you here?!" Allen shouted as he swung his sword at Tyki. When he saw the Purple shield on his arm, he redirected the swing downwards, then yanked it up harshly. It would have cut Tyki's arm off had he not jumped back.

"Yo, Young Boy. How's the transformation coming along?" Tyki grinned at Allen from a distance.

"What?" Allen faltered. Memories suddenly came rushing back to him: the voice, and the sheer power he felt. What had happened to all of that?

"Mugen," Kanda hissed as he flew through the air, drawing said weapon.

The purple shield in the shape of a butterfly reappeared on Tyki's left arm, and he batted away the flying exorcist.

"Geez, what a nice reception," Tyki mumbled sarcastically.

"The Order has never been very nice," Road shrugged.

Allen's eyes went wide. Though the Noah seem to have forgotten him, this is exactly what happened before. He snapped his head to the side, and watched Lenalee take a running start before flying through the air, aiming for Tyki's head.

Tyki sank into the ground, just barely dodging the girl's attacks.

"No!" Allen screamed. He knew what came next. He saw Tyki's mouth move, saying something quietly.

"Clown Belt!" Walker cried out. Thin white strips of cloth shot out and wrapped around Lenalee. With all of his might, Allen yanked the innocence back, with Lenalee pulled along with it.

Lenalee stopped in mid air and flew backwards just as two level four Akuma appeared and stabbed at the place she just was.

"Oh?" Road grinned. "Good, Dolly didn't die. It's more fun that way," Road said a a malicious smile akin to the Earl's split her face.

"Big Hammer, Small Hammer," Lavi shouted, "Hiban!" Bookman Jr. brought the head of his hammer down on a floating kanji and slammed it into the ground. "Fire seal!"

A massive snake made of fire roared out of the ground. It spiraled up to the top of the cafeteria and hissed at the Noah.

"Hm, that's interesting," Tyki muttered, looking up at the giant snake.

"Oh, this isn't for you," Lavi laughed as the snake turned its head around, and flew straight towards Tiedoll's approaching giants. It bit one of the bodies on the arm, and that giant burst into flame. Lavi's fire snake then spun around the flaming giant's arm, and towards the other, unlit giant.

The two flaming giant creations of Innocence lumbered towards the four enemies, and swung their arms down. Both Noah and Akuma dodged the slow attack easily.

"Hmm," Tiedoll said to himself. "Too slow, huh?" He jammed Maker or Eden into the ground, and his two giants burst into six purely white creatures with the exact same shape as a level four Akuma.

They scatted around the room at amazing speeds, zigzagging around, and randomly sending in attacks towards the two real level four Akuma.

The Akuma being preoccupied, swinging and trying to attack their speedy opponents, Allen and Lenalee charged Road, while Lavi and Kanda rushed Tyki.

"Leave here now, Road!" Allen yelled at said Noah as he swung his sword at her.

"No thanks," She replied as she jumped back, swiftly evading the attack.

Allen's sword flew through empty air. When he stopped his sword on the other side of his body, Lenalee jumped on the tip of the flat side of the blade. Allen roared and swung the sword back, sending Lenalee flying towards Road.

She spun in the air, and kicked out at Road with her gained momentum. Crossing her arms in front of her, Road blocked the super kick, but felt and heard the bones in both of her arms snap.

Landing a few feet away, Lenalee watched Road's broken arms stand straight again and mend themselves. When the process was completed, Road flexed her hands and smiled at Lenalee.

"Nice try."

Thin white spears shot out and sliced all around Road, but not actually hitting anything vital. "Clown Belt!" Allen yelled, and the white spears coming from his cape bent and wrapped around the Noah, immobilizing her.

Lenalee dashed forward and jumped up. She performed a somersault, flowing gracefully Allen noted even in the midst of battle, and brought her heel smashing down on Road's head.

Road's head slumped forward as Lenalee landed softly on the ground.

"Okay, screw this," Road muttered. She lifted her head, and ripped Allen's Clown Belt with a candle she had in her hand. A candle appeared next to her head, and shot towards Allen faster than either of them could track, and pierced him in the shoulder.

He dropped to the ground in pain, and yanked the candle out. Seizing her chance, Road shot several more candles into Allen's back and legs. Allen screamed in pain.

"No!" Lenalee screamed at the Noah.

Tyki then flew by Road, and in that split second said: "Don't forget what we're here for, Road."

"I know, Tyki. I'm just having some fun."

And the moment was over. Tyki continued to fly back; out through the hole he had created earlier. Kanda and Lavi rushed after him, leaving Allen and Lenalee to deal with Road. The candles disappeared, and Allen was left with several bleeding holes all over his body.

"Allen!" Lenalee rushed to his side.

"I'm alright, I'm alright," Allen gasped.

They heard six bangs, and looked up to see the two level fours swelling up. The six white forms started hammering them with attacks.

A giant spinning blade flew through the air and sliced both one of the Akuma and one of Tiedoll's creations in half.

"Looks like it's time to go," Road sighed to herself as she looked to see the other three generals joining the battle.

She opened a heart-shaped, pink door with a sparkling jeweled crown on top behind her and stepped backwards into it, disappearing in the pink swirl.

"See ya, Exorcists," She said softly just before the doors closed and vanished.

--

Anna stumbled into an irrigation ditch and waited for the shouts following her shambled by. She thought back to what had caused the current chain of events. She had landed in town to get a bite to eat, and next thing she knew, some guy grabbed her arm and dragged her down an alleyway. Try as she might, though, Anna could not get away from the man. When they were far down the alley where it was hard to see from the entrance, the man signaled something, and Anna was surrounded.

"Hey there, pretty lady," One of the men cooed.

"Wanna have some fun?" Another laughed.

Anna stood as still as a mouse under a cats glare.

"Hey," One of the pushed her roughly, "say something."

"Bite me." She was in no mood for the shenanigans of the men.

"What did you say, bitch?" The same guy grabbed her hair and yanked it back. He held a knife under her throat.

"Hey, let's play with her some." The men all laughed.

"Why, that is a great idea," The hair-holder said. So they closed in even tighter on her, some pulling down their zippers.

"Don't worry. We'll treat you _real_ nice," One of the men said.

Anna said nothing and just stared at the sky.

"Let's clean this bitch," The hair-holder said and flung Anna down to the ground. When she landed, her back was exposed slightly, surprising the men.

"Damn, that's a pretty nice tattoo."

"Who cares? Let's go." And the men advanced even closer. Anna still said nothing.

"Hey, come on! Stand up, fight back, do something! This is boring!" One of the men kicked the girl.

Black crosses appeared on Anna's forehead. "My god, Anna. You're such a fucking pussy!" The Noah Anna stood up.

"Oh! Here we go!" One of the men laughed.

"Fuck off." Anna turned and punched the man in the face, sending him flying through one of the nearby walls.

"What the hell?" A few of the men cried as they all jumped back in the small space.

"So, who's next?" Noah Anna grinned and cracked her knuckles.

"You bitch!" One of them cried—it was the hair-puller. He rushed forward with a yell, fist raised. He jumped forward and swung. Un-Anna just sidestepped and let the man stumble forward. Un-Anna jumped forward a little bit, just behind the stumbling man who was teetering to gain balance and swung out with her foot. Hitting the man squarely in the back, he was sent flying out through the entrance to the alleyway. The crowds gasped and jumped back from the flying, bloody man. Groaning, the man rolled over. Un-Anna just walked after him, and stamped him back down when he tried to stand back up.

"Care to rape me now?" She said with scorn has she looked down at the pitiful man, her foot was still on his shoulder. The bystanders watched in awe, forming two solid lines from the edge of the alleyway to a few feet past the two.

The man started to cry and he mumbled something incoherently.

"What?" Un-Anna frowned and ground her heel into his shoulder. "I can't hear you!" She leaned in close. "Care to repeat that one more time?" She said in a half-whisper, her ear cocked slightly towards the man.

"No!" The man cried out as he shook his head and he cried harder.

"Good!" Un-Anna said, drawing out the long O like a teacher does when a kindergartener gets a question right. . "Now, are you gonna try to rape anyone else again?"

"N-no." The man mumbled.

"Good!" Un-Anna said the exact same way as before – drawing out the long O. "Are you going to leave your life of crime and act for the greater good?"

"…" The man was silent.

Un-Anna pressed even harder and twisted her battered shoe into the man's shoulder. "What?" She exclaimed and she stuck her head even closer. The crowd was starting to get scared. "I can't hear you. Speak up!"

"Y-yes! I will act for the greater good!" The man started to cry a little again.

"Good!" Un-Anna exclaimed, drawing out the O. "Now, run along now and tell all your little buddies," She said in a soothing voice as she took her foot off the man, helped him up, dusted of his back and gave him a gentle push back towards where the rest of his gang was. "Hurry along now!" She said in a hardly noticeable sarcastic happiness. As soon as the man disappeared into the shadows, that happy smiled turned into a frown. "What the hell are you all looking at?" She looked at the crowd. Suddenly there was a commotion from the back of one side.

"Police! Move out of the way!" A loud voice bellowed from the back of the wave of people.

"Uh-oh. There's my queue! See ya everybody! Thanks for watching the show! I love you all!" Un-Anna laughed as she ran the opposite direction from the cops while she kissed both hands and threw them to the crowds like a Broadway actress.

And that had led her to her current situation.

"Why can't you ever just leave people alone?" Anna asked the figure standing in front of her in the irrigation ditch. The cries and shouts of the police had now grown faint.

"_Oh, I dunno. 'Cause its fun, maybe?"_ The Noah smiled sweetly.

"Well, I'd like it if you _didn't_ get me into trouble." Anna sighed.

"_Hey, it was either that or get raped. Which one would you have preferred?"_ Noah Anna said pointedly

"Fine, whatever. I'm wrong, you're right." Anna rolled her eyes.

"_Again."_

"Whatever. Now leave me alone for a little while, will you? We're not that far from the Dark Order. See if you can stay out of trouble for a little while," Anna said as she cautiously stood up. So looking from side to side and checking that no one was looking, she activated her innocence and took off, flying low in the cover of the trees.

* * *

**Hey everybody!! Glad to see you all back! So yeah, it seems that a few of my chapters are getting to be pretty long! This one was 10 pages! :0  
But then again, it was only that long because I merged the previous chapter four into this one. It's a pain rewriting everything, especially when you have battles lasting more than one chapter and you have to change it all. Anyways, those who were with me before I'm sure can see massive changes to everything...., I kinda completely rewrote this chapter...heh...heh...heh...**

**ANYWAYSSS I hope you all liked it, and thank you all who reviewed last chapter!!!!! It always makes me feel so warm and fuzzy when you guys review, because I know myself how hard it is to press that button and type up some words xD Oh, and I didn't do it with THOW, but with this one, I'm going to be replying to each and every one of your reviews. But I'm new at this, and I've forgotten some people for a little while already xD**

**Anyways, that's pretty much it for my extra long AN, but it was fun typing it. Thanks so much you guys for everything, and I'd really appreciate it if you review :D**

**That's about it.... Alright then, I'll defiantly respond to your reviews, and I hope to strike up a good conversation! I've met some pretty cool people, it's pretty fun! Wow, I keep bringing up something or other to continue this AN.....O.o**

**Haha, I think I really will go now. Bye you guys!! I'll see you, er, read your words, later! Ciao!**

**(also, in case you're wondering, the stupid document editor keeps screwing up the underlined stuff. I can't get it all to be either underlined or not -_-)**

**Oh, and one LAST note for AllPod only, so the rest of you guys don't need to read this.**

**Sorry! I stole your chapter title names of I, II, III, and such. I hope you don't mind? If so I can change it... er... them.**


	4. Intruder

_**Hey, happy early Halloween everyone! If you're wondering why this is out so early, it's because I'm not going to be home all weekend, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get to a computer to post this. So instead of disappointing you all by making it be late, I figured I'd just give it to you all early!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

--

"Someone help! Get a doctor!" Lenalee cried out as she held Allen's bleeding body.

Allen coughed and tried to sit up, but Lenalee gently pulled him back into her arms on the ground. "Lenalee, I'm fine, just a few small-" the rest of his sentence was cut off as he violently coughed up blood.

"Allen!" Lenalee cried out. Just then Lavi and Kanda stumbled back in through the hole in the wall. Lavi managed to find the one empty spot in that whole half of the room before collapsing in it. As soon as he had caught his breath he whined loudly to Kanda who was bending over with his hands on his knees.

"Yuu! I'm tired! That was a tough battle!" Lavi complained. He was scraped and bruised, but otherwise unhurt.

Kanda looked exhausted, and his Exorcist uniform was ripped in several places, but he didn't look like he had any scratches on him at all. "Shut the hell up, Rabbit," He snapped at the annoying Bookman Jr. after he regained his breath.

"So mean!" Lavi complained again before laughing. His laughter slowly died down though as he rolled onto his back and stared at the lighted ceiling. From his position, the room looked fine. The ceiling was completely untarnished, and it cast the illusion that the morning had gone peacefully.

If only, if only.

--

"Here, let me help!" Miranda came rushing to Lenalee's side. She got down on one knee, held her right arm over Allen, and said: "Time Record, Activate!"

Slowly all of the wounds in Allen's body closed up and disappeared, and the boy stood up.

"Thanks, Miranda. Now we can get everyone injured to the infirmary easier," He stretched and smiled at the woman.

"I-I'm just glad I could help in any way possible…" she smiled.

"You did, Miranda," Lenalee said reassuringly, before putting her hand on Allen's shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am. For now, at least," Allen replied to the girl's question. "Come on, let's go help out."

--

The death toll was fairly low, only four dead, but it still saddened the Dark Order. And there was the problem of Allen's wounds to be taken care of. It was not an immediate problem as Miranda had Time Record activated, but it would not last forever. There was a commotion from the hallway as Bookman burst into the room followed by Marie and Komui. After seeing Lenalee slightly beaten and battered, he immediately burst into a tearful rage, shouting,

"Whoever did this to my poor, sweet, dear Lenalee-chan will pay!" He screamed at the air as he tightly hugged his over-protected sister hard enough to lift her off the ground.

"Brother, you're hurting me more than that battle did!" Lenalee squeezed out as she pushed on her brother's arms, trying to get him to loosen his hold.

"I'm sorry!" He cried as he immediately released the girl from his hold.

"What happened?" Bookman inquired from no-one in particular.

"Noah," Lavi simply replied.

"I see. Marie, can you tell where they went?" Bookman lifted his head to look at the tall exorcist.

"Hey, Panda, they didn't just walk out of here; Road teleported them out of here."

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CAFETERIA WALL!?" Komui screamed. Apparently he had just noticed the gaping hole in the wall with the mass amounts of rubble they had spat into the room. A wall of golden light shone into the interior, visible from all the floating dust.

While Komui grieved over his broken walls, Allen and the rest of the injured headed over towards the infirmary. The generals all headed back to their rooms. As soon as they all piled into the infirmary – there were eighteen of them – Allen finally convinced Miranda to release her innocence. As soon as she did, Allen dropped to the floor clutching his shoulder. All of the injured finders also clutched broken bones and cuts. The Head Nurse was almost amazed by the amount and seriousness of some of the injuries, but being surprised is not in a nurse's line of duty. So she quickly set to work on the most life-threatening wounds.

Allen ended up being fifth in line as his cuts were not bleeding as badly as before. The one's who got called up first had very serious injuries indeed, and it made Allen guilty that he couldn't do anything more to stop Tyki and Road. Miranda was taking every bit of her willpower to stop herself from activating Time Record and relieving everyone from their pain.

Finally, after an arduously long wait, Allen was called up to the plate. What he didn't pay attention to, though, was that his pain was slowly growing less and less. When the Nurse hastily unwrapped his bloody bandages, her eyes grew wide.

"What joke are you trying to play here?" She asked angrily at Allen who had been looking in the opposite direction, at all of the injured staff.

Allen turned his head back to the Nurse. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Are you trying to play a joke on us? If so then it's not the time and you should be ashamed of yourself!"

"What are you talking about? I'm not trying to play any joke!" Allen was confused.

"Then why is there no wound here? Move along, we have other people waiting." She wadded the bloody bandages up and threw them into the trash. She then hurried Allen out of his seat and back towards the door.

Confused, Allen looked at his shoulder. His eyes went wide as he found the skin to be smooth. There was no cut, not even a scar. He turned around to look at the back of his legs, but they were spotless as well. His body showed absolutely no signs of being impaled just minutes before. Still in disbelief, he walked back over to Miranda, hand covering his shoulder. When he reached the woman, who was sitting on a bench chewing her nails, he spoke out.

"Miranda, I thought I asked you to cancel Time Record."

Miranda jumped slightly and jerked her head up towards the boy. "I did!" She cried. "I did just as you told me to! Why do you think I have done other than what you asked?"

Allen removed his hand from his shoulder. "That's why." He stated.

"What? I canceled Time Record! I'm positive!" Miranda was clearly baffled as well. She stood up and started to feel the shoulder. "But there is still blood on your clothes and skin!"

"I know," Allen said. After a little bit of thought, he said, "I think your Innocence might be evolving."

"But then why aren't everyone else's wounds healing?" Miranda stopped scrutinizing Allen's shoulder and looked up at the white haired boy.

"I…don't know. But it's still a possibility. You might want to ask Hevlaska," He said as he turned his head to look out the door of the infirmary. There was a small group of finders surrounding the door, peering in just past the door like a child looking for Santa. Looking a little closer, Allen saw the white and black hair of Krory. Allen pulled the cloth of his uniform around his shoulder and headed out of the room, followed by a jittery Miranda.

"Krory, what are you doing here?" Allen said when he reached the vampire-like man in the hallway. He clutched the two sides of his uniform where it ripped.

"Well, I heard this big commotion from the cafeteria. It was so loud it woke me up. And when I finally got down to the cafeteria I see it is destroyed and that there is blood everywhere. I was really worried so I came here to see how everyone was doing," The man fretted. "I feel really guilty that I couldn't help everybody!" The exorcist looked forlorn.

Allen patted Krory's shoulder. "Don't worry. It wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done." He smiled reassuringly. Krory only nodded his head sadly. "Now, how about you and Miranda go get some breakfast? I'm pretty sure that the actual kitchen wasn't destroyed. You might have to sit on the floor though."

"I guess we can do that…." Miranda looked at Krory.

"Okay then. You two talk over what happened a little bit while you eat." Allen smiled as he lightly pushed the two back in the direction of the wrecked cafeteria.

"Bye, Allen-kun." Miranda gave a little wave as she and Krory headed on their way. The small group of uninjured finders parted so they exorcists could walk on their way.

As soon as the two turned a corner, Allen's smile fell. He no longer had a reason to force it. He spun on his heel and headed in the opposite direction – towards the elevator for Hevlaska's lair. He now doubted that it was Time Record that had healed him. He brushed the bloodstained shoulder as he let go of the cloth. His healing had something to do with the fact that he went back in time. It had to do with the voice. That was something he could not let go of. Maybe Miranda could rewind it, but it was not permanent, and she defiantly could not change the future. He then thought back to his attack and winced as he grabbed his chest a little at the memory. That was where it started: the mysterious attack. Right after the attack he went back in time and saved his friends from death. Then his shoulder healed from wounds that would have marred his ability to move properly forever. Allen raised his right arm to test it – he stretched it out, flexed it and wiggled his fingers. There was nothing wrong. That in itself was a problem. He finally reached the elevator and dropped it as soon as he got on. Deeper and deeper he went into the depths below.

--

Anna perched on a tree branch in a vast forest. She looked from side to side several times before she dropped down to the beaten dirt path below her. Once she hit the ground, she immediately looked all around her, checking for anyone who might have heard her descent. Confident that she had not been discovered, she ran for the next half an hour. Using her Innocence so much tired her greatly, and she had been using it for the better part of the day. Eventually, she reached the edge of the forest. Looking up, she saw the vast castle of the Dark Order over looking the forest. Not wanting to waste any time, she jumped up and activated her innocence.

Touching down on the edge of the cliff, Anna collapsed momentarily out of exhaustion. She had used her Innocence way too much. So she just lay there for a few minutes. When she felt she had gained enough energy, she popped back up onto her feet and headed down the path – the same one that Allen Walker had traveled no more than a year ago. When she got to the gate, she was immediately inspected.

"X-ray vision!" The Gatekeeper shouted as he scrutinized her. He looked all over her until he got to her heart. Deep inside her he saw the Black Cross of the Noah.

"Intruder!" He screamed over and over again as he started to cry. The cry resounded throughout the whole building, alerting everyone to the Gatekeepers' plight. Within moments the doors on either side of him opened slightly and Anna was faced with every exorcist in the building, weapons drawn towards her.

"U-uh… Hi!" She forced her nervous smile.

--

_**Hello, everyone! Glad to see you all again!!!!**_

_**Sorry for any suck this chapter has. I hardly edited it at all. Actually, I think the only thing I changed was the beginning, and the stuff about Allen's wounds. (I'm THOW, he was only stabbed in the shoulder.) So yeah, I hope you all bear with me on chapters like this, but I'm afraid I'll never get anything done if I try to rewrite these chapters. I always got stuck for like a month trying to write these.**_

_**And now we reach the boring part. I am SO FREAKING GLAD I've already written this. Otherwise I'd probably be stuck writing chapter 5 for the next month. For those of you who read THOW, the next few chapters are going to pretty much be all the same as before. I'm mostly only going to work on personalities and battles and grammar and such. **_

_**Aaaaaanyway, thank you for reading this chapter, and I hope you review!**_

_**I'll see you all next time!**_


	5. The Answer Is Inside

**_You know, in the good of the halloween spirit, I shall treat you all to a double feature!!!  
I hope you all enjoy!  
_****_By they way, Noah Allen comes soon!_**

**__****--**

As Allen descended to Hevlaska's lair, the only thing he heard was the _whirr_ of the hovering mechanisms holding the platform aloof. Soon the amount of natural light from above waned, causing the light from the platform take hold. Looking over the side railing, Allen saw Hevlaska dwelling down below. Satisfied with what he saw, he stood straight and awaited his final destination.

He looked up at the light far above him. Exactly how far down did this castle go? Allen could never figure it out.

The elevator clunked to a stop and he looked for the ghostly form of Hevlaska.

"What have you come for?" A heavenly voice came behind him. Allen wordlessly turned around to face Hevlaska. Upon seeing his face, she commented, "You are wrought with concern. What is your unease?" She slid over to face him head on.

"I have many. The first one is this." He slid the cloth covering his shoulder down enough to see the skin below.

"What is the problem?" She leaned closer to inspect the bloodied shoulder. "I sense nothing wrong."

"That _is_ the problem," Allen corrected her with distress. "My shoulder should currently have a bleeding hole in it, along with several more in my back and legs," He pointed to the numerous places he felt Road's Candles stab him. He lifted his hand instinctively and felt the smooth skin again. "But it's not. And there is currently no Innocence activated upon it."

"It is curious indeed. I will look further into the matter," She nodded. "What are your other concerns?"

Allen took a deep breath as he recollected how wonderfully he had spent his night. His brows grew closer together.

"Last night I had a sort of…pain attack." He spoke slowly, carefully choosing ever word that he was going to speak. "It was a horrible pain, and I feel bad just _remembering_ it." He shook himself slightly. "It started at my curse and worked its way down throughout my body. The pain, that is."

He pointed to the pentacle on his forehead and trailed down his body several times, pointing out spots where he remembered it hurt most.

"Interesting."

"And the strangest part about the whole thing was my arm." He drew back is left sleeve to reveal the ebony-black color of his arm. "It was twisting and writhing beyond by control. It also looked like it inflated and deflated in some parts. I'm pretty sure it was the most painful thing out of the whole ordeal."

Hevlaska wrapped her tentacles around Allen and hoisted him into the air. She then wrapped a few more around his Innocence, examining it. To finish the process, she lightly touched her forehead to Allen's own.

After a few moments, Hevlaska hummed a note and spoke. "Your Innocence is scared." She lowered him to the elevator again.

Allen gave a blank stare. "What?"

"Your Innocence is scared of something within you. I cannot distinguish what it is – that you have to do on your own."

Allen sighed as he leaned on the railing of the lift and rubbed his temples with one hand. "That leaves me almost no further than I started with."

"I am sorry. I cannot tell you anything more concerning this matter."

"You can't or you won't?" Allen stopped his massaging and peered at Hevlaska through the gap between his hand and his face.

"I cannot. I do not know anything more."

Allen sighed and stood straight again. "Alright then. Thank you." He walked over to the elevator controls and started its accent into the light. He stopped only about fifteen feet up. He leaned over the railing as far as he could without falling. "One more thing." He called out below.

"What is it?" Hevlaska stretched her body up so she could see eye-to-eye with Allen.

"You could sense that battle, right?" He straightened up, lowering his voice from his previous volume.

"Yes."

"And the two Noah, right?"

"Yes. What is your question?"

"Did you notice anything strange about Tyki Mikk?"

"No. Why?"

"Never mind then. Thank-you," Allen politely thanked as he strode back over to the controls and once again started his accent.

"You are welcome, Allen Walker." Hevlaska said as she followed the lift with her eyes.

When the lift was high enough that she could not see the boy, she lowered herself down. _This is not good._ She thought to herself as she sank back down to rest and brood over her thoughts.

--

As soon as Allen reached the surface he headed to his room. Along the way he once again studied his right arm – its movement, reaction, everything. Nothing was limited.

_The answer is inside me…._ He thought as he stared at his arm.

Sighing, he let his arm fall back to his side and walked the rest of the way in silence. Reaching his floor, he looked at the doors passing by. Most of them read names of finders, but he chuckled when he saw Kanda's name on one of the doors, his first name scribbled out. Eventually he found the door with the nameplate "Allen Walker". He grabbed the handle with his right hand and swung the door in, allowing himself through the open doorway. Smiling a little at his home, he walked in further and closed the door behind him. He then went and sat on the edge his bed and thought a little.

_Inside me, huh?_He thought. _I have none in the slightest of idea what that means. Why can't Hevlaska just tell me straight forward?_

He sighed as he twisted slightly from his sitting position to lie down on his bed instead. He sighed again and rested his right arm on his face, partially blocking the dim light in his room.

_Inside me…I have to look inside me. How am I supposed to do that?_

Allen peered through parted fingers at his lamp, though he did not really see it.

"Well, thinking can come later. It's probably not good for me to stay in these bloodied clothes…." He thought aloud as he twisted back around and rolled off of his bed to stand up.

The moment he finished putting on his spare uniform, the Gatekeeper cried. "Intruder! Get her away!" He cried.

Hastily buttoning the last of his shirt, he sprinted down the hallway and to the main entrance of the Dark Order.

Reaching the gateway within a few minutes, he briefly saw a very tired-looking Lenalee before she was out of sight, on the other side of the door. Miranda was standing near the back, Time Record already activated. Allen worked his way to the front of the crowd of finders with Talismans each. Up at the door, Allen stood next to Lavi closer to the right side and scowled at Kanda who was further down on the left. Krory was next to Cross while Tiedoll took reign of the right corner; Zokalo took the left. The monstrous Lau Jimin stood right in the middle. Lenalee finally bustled her way through the crowd and stood next to Allen, Dark Boots activated.

The cries of the Gatekeeper grew and the crowd quieted down to an eerie hush. The single break in the silence – besides the cries of the Gatekeeper – was when Allen activated his Innocence. The Gatekeeper drew up the doors on both sides of him and every exorcist stood poised in a way that said 'attack or be attacked'. They were all clearly surprised at the lone figure standing before them.

"U-uh, hi!" The girl said with a wavering smile and a jittery little wave. It was more of a twitching motion than a wave.

"Who are you?" Kanda barked out.

"Aw, don't be like that, Kanda! She is just a helpless little lady who is in need of our assistance." Cross said as he zipped over faster and anyone could see.

He grasped Anna's hand and kissed it gently. "What is your name, my sweet mada—"

Cross was cut off by a strong blow to the head from an irritated Allen.

"Shut up, you womanizer, Master!" Allen sighed and turned to face Anna. The rest of the exorcists still watched from behind the gateway. "I'm sorry about him. So what is your name?"

Anna was still flustered slightly from Cross' actions. "I… uh… I'm Anna. Or so they say." She smiled a little.

"Well, Anna, why have you come here?" Allen crossed his arms and smiled reassuringly.

"I heard this place was one where I would be welcomed… for once…." Anna looked down, he voice dropping.

"Welcomed? Why wouldn't you be welcomed anywhere?" Allen inquired. He shifted from his position slightly.

"Well… because of this." Anna stated as she activated her Innocence and rose into the air.

She decided to keep the Noah part a secret.

She faltered for a few seconds when she heard the gasps from the crowd below.

_They hate me already!_She thought to herself.

_You don't know that. You came all this way and you are_not _going to turn back now- even if I have to force you. And you know I will._The Noah Anna answered back sharply.

Anna rose again and looked below. What she saw were faces of bewilderment and awe.

_What?_ She thought to the Noah side.

_They like you! Do some tricks or something._The Noah inside answered.

So, complying with herself, Anna beat her Innocence wings and started to fly in a lazy circle. Slowly she got fast and faster, her wings beating faster and faster. Watching the show, a Finder started to clap her hands, slowly at first, then faster and faster. The rest of the Order joined in, save for a few, and Anna, bubbling with joy, started some maneuvers to please her crowd. She went from her lazy circle to doing a loop-the-loop; first she pulled up into one, then down into another. Finishing her loop, she then spun into a barrel roll, which earned her many gasps and cheers from below.

_I can't believe it! They_like_me!_Her smile went from ear to ear as she pulled back up to a hover, slightly ditzy from her spinning.

The next thing she knew, there was a grinning redheaded boy right in front of her. He seemed to be standing on a pole of some sort.

"That is so cool!" He exclaimed. "It looks to be a parasitic-type." He noted as he viewed her glowing wings. "Say, weren't those different before?" He said with a puzzled look, pointing at Anna's glowing wings.

They were, for one, brighter than when first invoked, and it looked like if the bat-like left wing was half angelic – like the wing on her right – from the back out to midpoint.

"U-uh… yea. They seem to change based on my emotions… I think…." Anna looked away as she continued to hover in place.

She was not used to someone scrutinizing her wings, and she half-expected the boy to shun her because of them.

"Well, that's Parasitic for ya." He grinned. "Well, come on down. We'll need to officially ask you some questions, but you should fit in just perfectly here."

He lowered the handle of his hammer, allowing himself down to the ground. Anna followed him down to the earth below, hesitating a few feet above. Lenalee ran up to the girl, anklets clinking together.

"That is so beautiful! I wish my Innocence was that pretty." She smiled at the new girl.

"T-thanks." Anna wavered in the air, unsure if she should land. She steadied as if she had made up her mind, and quickly dropped. She grinned slightly and scratched the back of her head. "What is your Innocence?"

"Oh, mine? They're just boots. Hardly spectacular, right?" Lenalee giggled. "Come on! We'll show you to your new home!" Lenalee said as she grabbed Anna's hand and pulled her to the waiting masses at the gates, with Lavi in tow.

And thus began Anna's life in the Dark Order.

--

_**Hey! Again, for those of you who read THOW, you're probably noticing that there aren't too many differences. Yes, I know that they're unusually unguarded, especially after just being attacked, but still. I'm sorry, but I am faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar to lazy to change it. Please forgive me??**_

_**And for those of you who are wondering, THOW is an acronym for the old title of this story: Two Halves, One Whole. Just so ya know.**_

_**Anyways, I hope you liked it, and I'll see you next chapter!**_


	6. If Only I Was Stronger

"So, first things first, we need to ask you a few questions about your background," the redheaded boy said to the brown-haired girl following nervously behind.

Allen and Lenalee followed behind them. They were given the task of observers, and to strike without warning should Anna go wild.

"Uh… okay…." She replied nervously. She looked behind her at the two figures watching her intently. She smiled slightly, "And what did you say your names were?"

"Allen Walker. Pleased to meet you," Allen smiled back.

"Lenalee Lee. My brother is the supervisor."

"Be careful around Komui. He has a sister complex that will drive him to kill you if you hurt his 'precious Lenalee-chan'," Lavi laughed.

Lenalee just rolled her eyes.

"So where exactly are we taking her? Hevlaska?" Allen asked.

"Right! This way, please," Lavi directed as he turned a corner.

Shortly the elevator came into view, the same one that Allen had descended on less than an hour ago.

"All aboard!" Lavi shouted in a conductor-like way when he reached the edge of the platform. He motioned for everyone to pile on.

Anna looked all around. "Where are we going?" she asked to no one in particular.

Lavi smiled. "Down," he merely said, suddenly sending the elevator dropping.

--

Four dull black caskets lay closed and covered in a white cloth. Komui stood solemnly on a raised platform in front of these caskets, trying his best to keep on as strong of a façade as he could possibly muster.

"We are here today to mourn the loss of four of our courageous friends. They died while believing in us, believing that we would overcome the Earl and his plans for destruction. We will not forget them. Their names forever will forever be engraved in our hearts!"

Komui paused and looked at the silent crowd in front of him. Several were trying to hold back tears—but to no avail. Silver streams ran down faces, full of sorrow as they stared at the caskets before them. Komui continued somberly.

"Today, they died; maybe physically, but not in our hearts. They will live on; inside us, and up above with god. Now we will pay out respects!" Komui finished.

The leader of the Black Order bowed his head to the quiet coffins—his tribute of respect. Everyone bowed his or her heads. Wind howled through windows high above, as if the building itself was crying. Komui raised his head once again.

"This day," Komui boomed out, "Christian Baker died nobly. He died for our cause. He shall never be forgotten."

Friends of the finder came forth—white roses in hand—and placed them on the left most casket. A few sank to their knees and prayed, sobbing as they paid their respects. Komui watched in silence as he waited. When the last man had stood up and returned to the crowd, he began again.

"This day," He rang out, "Marco Martinez died in our cause. He will never be forgotten, forever engraved in the hearts of those he touched with kindness."

More came forth and placed roses on the next casket to the left. Komui waited for all to return.

Near the back, Allen stood next to Lenalee. Allen had a pained, yet angry look, on his face.

He thought to himself the same thing. _I couldn't save them. It was my fault! If only I had been stronger._ Over and over he thought this.

His right fist was clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. He looked over at Lenalee and sadly winced at the sight.

The girl next to him had red eyes, puffy from tears. They stood locked solely on the caskets containing her friends. A few lone drops fell from the corners of her eyes, which she made no effort to dry. In her hands she fussed with the cuff of her uniform. Looking at the distressed girl, Allen leaved over and whispered gently to her.

"Are you okay?"

She stopped staring at the caskets and looked at him with red eyes.

"No," was the simple answer.

Allen put his arm around her, gently placing a hand on her far shoulder. He was not making a move on her; just comforting her. He leaned in closer to let his words be clearer. He heard Komui continue on with his speech in the background.

"Don't worry. They are in a better place now. A world where no Akuma exist and where they can be with other loved ones," he softly soothed.

Lenalee sniffed slightly and dabbed her eye. "I know, but I feel empty inside. My friends and my family are my world. Every time someone dies, my world shatters and crumbles around me. I'm afraid of who will be next, possibly someone who I really care about. Someone like you…." She stopped when she realized what she had said.

Allen squeezed her shoulder a little. "Don't worry; I'll make sure to come back every time." He said reassuringly.

He heard Komui pause and saw more people go up and place flowers on a casket – the last one.

"Good. You better." Lenalee smiled slightly.

He smelled nice. She couldn't tell what it was exactly, just that it was a nice smell.

She thought back to the first time she had met him, suddenly. She found it amusing that they all thought he was an intruder, and sent Kanda after him. Lenalee was glad that she had met the younger white-hared boy. He always cheered for her, made coming home worth it. He would always greet her with a "Good job Lenalee!" or "Welcome back, Lenalee," and make her feel very accomplished after returning from a mission. And now she was one again glad that he was there. He had immediately brightened her mood, brought a smile to her face even though she was so sad.

Lenalee just sighed in content and, without thinking, rested her head against Allen's shoulder. She didn't even notice that Allen tensed up slightly at her actions. The tension was very brief, however, and was soon gone.

Lavi looked back at them from across the way and smiled slightly.

_Score for Allen,_ he thought amusedly.

The contact between boy and girl went on for almost two full minutes, before the crowd in front of them started moving. Allen and Lenalee quickly broke apart, standing straight. Neither of them noticed however, that they both wore small, content smiles on their faces, and their eyes were brighter than the midnight stars.

--

"So now that you're officially one of us, you need a room!" Lenalee said to Anna who was trailing behind, looking around her in amazement while holding two folded-up, fresh exorcist uniforms.

Lenalee led her down the hallways, past rows and rows of doors. Countless names lined on the doors, all engraved neatly on little plates next to the door. Finally they reached a door that held an empty nameplate on it. Lenalee walked up to it and swung the door inward, stepping back to allow Anna a view of her room.

"And here you are. Welcome to your new home." Lenalee smiled gently.

She showed no signs of her earlier depression during the funeral, but there was a small undertone of sadness. But Anna didn't doubt Lenalee had buried it so deeply she wouldn't be able to sense it herself.

Anna stepped into the room and wondrously looked around.

"This is mine? Like, all for me? For myself?" She turned and asked Lenalee in amazement.

She deposited her uniforms on her bed, taking in the new environment all around her.

Lenalee giggled. "Yea. It's not much, I know, but at least it's homey in here."

"Are you kidding? This is awesome! The most I've had all my life!"

"Really?"

"Yea. I never got a big room. And after I went on the run…," Anna suddenly looked downcast.

"Never mind then. Come on, let's go for a tour!" Lenalee picked up on the girl's falling mood, and hurried her back out the door.

"And remember which door is yours. We'll have that nameplate done shortly, so it'll be easier to locate."

"Uh, okay. I might get lost though anyways. I'm not good with directions," Anna said with a small giggle.

"Don't worry. You won't be the first. And there are plenty of people around to get directions. All you really have to do is remember your room number. It's 209C," Lenalee told her as they walked along.

"Okay. 209C. 209C." Anna repeated to herself quietly several times. Lenalee just smiled.

"So first off, here we have the cafeteria. Its kind of in pieces because we were attacked just before you arrived. Hence why everybody was on guard," Lenalee explained as they walked through a doorway.

"Uh…."

"But don't worry! This is the first time it's happened. It's not going to happen again anytime soon," Lenalee quickly added. "Now, moving on…."

The rest of the tour passed along quickly. Lenalee pointing out certain features about the old building and introducing Anna to the people they passed. Anna was very amazed by the wide variety of faces that wandered the hallways. Eventually the tour came to an end, and Lenalee and Anna ended back in front of the new girl's room.

"So now I think you want to take a shower, right?" Lenalee said.

"Uh-huh, it's been on my mind the whole time. I stink," Anna laughed with Lenalee.

"Well, come on. I'll show you to the shower rooms. Oh, go grab some clothes too," Lenalee said as Anna opened her door, grabbed a uniform and came back out.

They then headed towards the women's showers. When they reached them, Lenalee led the way inside and showed Anna the contents of the rooms. Thanking her politely, Anna then waited for Lenalee to leave and shut the door.

Shutting the door, Lenalee turned quickly and found her face a mere hairs breadth away from Allen's.

--

_**Hehe, cliffy! Though I'm sure half of you already know what's going to happen next. Oh well!!! I hope you all review and thank you all so much for those of you who did!**_

_**Sorry that it was so short A bunch of my chapters are really short... Sorry! Please forgive me??  
**_

_**Anywho, I'm going to try out an idea....  
Your question of the week: who is your favorite DGM paring?  
You can use any of my created characters if you like. Let me know in a review! **_

_**Anyways... I hope you all enjoyed it, and I'll talk to you guys next time! :D**_

_**Make sure you review!**_


	7. Priceless

Lenalee turned pink to the face when she turned to find herself within kissing distance from Allen.

_When did he get here?_She thought as she looked into Allen's deep silvery-blue eyes.

She noted that he still smelled nice- so nice that she just wanted to hold him. But who was she kidding? She always wanted to do that.

Allen also turned several shades redder as he looked at Lenalee. He realized suddenly that the girl was not as tall as she had been when he first met her. Or was he just getting taller? When he first met her, Lenalee was about three centimeters taller than him. But now she was about two below.

He caught a whiff of her hair; it smelled like strawberries.

Allen's ears perked as he caught a slight sound before he was violently rammed from behind.

"Oops," Lavi apologized in an innocent angel voice, trying to hide his smile. "I slipped. Clumsy me!" he laughed as he tapped his head once with his fingers.

Allen and Lenalee did not hear him, however, as their lips firmly locked together. Lenalee was pressed against the shower room door with Allen in front of her. To prevent hurting the girl, he had used his arms to keep from slamming into the door. He could not, however, prevent the laws of motion from moving his head forward.

Oh, how lucky Allen felt; a dream come true- though not exactly under the desired circumstances. He had preferred it alone and romantic, but what was done was done. He wished the moment would freeze so he could stay with Lenalee forever. But nay, proper manners and a wish to not show his true feelings had him bolting straight up, hands at his sides. He ignored the hysterical laughter coming from the red head behind him.

"I'm very sorry!" Allen loudly apologized as he bowed deeply from the waist; his eyes locked solely on his shoes as he fought to keep the embarrassment and happiness from showing on his face.

Lenalee said nothing and made no movement as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. So, let's see. First, she had given a tour to Anna. Second, she had found herself inches from Allen- and after the funeral, too. Third, Lavi had come along and bumped Allen, which caused them to kiss. She had to make sure she herself wasn't dreaming.

Slowly, Lenalee brought her arm up without averting her gaze from the ground some feet away, and pinched herself on the arm… hard. Nope, she wasn't dreaming. But the pain did break her from her trance, and suddenly everything came at once. Thoughts, emotions, movements… everything.

Lenalee felt her knees go weak. Her face turned beet red, and her breathing became more laborious. Allen looked up slightly from his bowed position with a perked eyebrow.

"Are…you okay, Lenalee?" he asked quietly.

Lenalee tore her eyesight from the ground and looked at Allen. Her arm dropped and she stood straight, her face reaching a shade of red closer to maroon.

"U-uh…. Perfectly fine!" Lenalee stuttered as she took a hesitant step to the side.

"I-I just remembered that Brother asked me to do something. Gotta' go!" Lenalee excused as she suddenly took off down the hallway.

Besides Lavi's wheezing from laughing so hard, Allen heard nothing but the clanking of her anklets as she ran.

--

"Tyki-pon!" a gleeful voice came from the door.

"Earl-sama. _Please_ don't call me that. It's childish," Tyki sighed from his bed.

"How are you feeling?" the ever-grinning Earl asked, ignoring Tyki's statement.

"It's still hard to move. Why?"

"Never mind then. I'll just ask Lulubell. She always gets things done for me," the Earl said happily as he turned and left the room without a further word.

Tyki frowned, but said nothing.

--

"You want me to go to America?" Lulubell asked.

"That is correct," the Early answered, nodding his head for added emphasis.

"Yes, Earl-sama," she accepted, bowing politely.

"Thank you! You're so kind." the Earl rejoiced.

"Yes. I'll be off. I will return shortly."

Lulubell bowed again and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

--

"U-uh… Lenalee?" Allen softly said to himself as he watched the girl run, embarrassed and confused at the same time.

Allen turned around to look at the boy lying on the floor. Lavi had a big loopy grin on his face, happy tears stained his cheeks, and he was grasping his sides. With each breath came a giant wheezing exhale. Every few breathes or so, he managed to squeeze in one faint giggle.

After about another minute of his laughing, Lavi sat up, smile still on his face. He coughed once.

"Ahh…. Priceless!" Lavi giggled.

Allen did not say a word as he turned and left, walking quickly towards his room in the opposite direction, wearing a noticeable frown.

--

After her short shower, Anna walked out of the shower room, fully dressed and drying her hair. The sight of Lavi sitting on the floor breathing hard and grinning lazily greeted her.

"Uh… did I miss something?" Anna asked, stopping further drying her air.

--

Allen walked calmly. His face had drained its reddish shade and returned to normal. He continued on, listening to his Exorcist boots scrape against the stone floor. He passed two finders who were talking quietly to themselves. With a nod to each, the snow-white haired boy continued on to his room.

As soon as he closed the door, Allen let out a giant sigh and leaned entirely against the closed door; his hand was still on the knob.

He looked up to the ceiling and recalled what had just happened between him and Lenalee. Just the thought of it had his face immediately turning red again.

Allen sighed again and sank to the floor, allowing the cold rock to leech the warmth from him. Maybe it would cool his burning face. After about a minute, the Destroyer of Time sat up and walked calmly over to his bed.

Allen sat on the edge of his bed, pondering the day's events.

So far, Allen had had a weird pain attack. Hevlaska said that his Innocence was scared, and wouldn't tell him about what; so, he needed to figure out what she meant. Then, Tyki and Road had stormed the Dark Order in the middle of breakfast. He had seen Lavi and Kanda die. He had seen finders get torn in half. And he had seen Lenalee die.

Allen shivered. No, it was too painful to remember, even though she was still alive. And the reason she was alive…was because he had traveled back in time. That had to be the case. It was much too vivid and real to be some sort of premonition. He had lived it, watched it, felt it… Yes, it was much too real to be a premonition.

Allen stared at his freakish black arm as he pondered further. So he had to have traveled back in time. But how could he have possibly done such a thing? He remembered feeling anger, truly deep anger; one laced with murderous intent. And then he felt power. He remembered it consuming him, possessing him, almost.

Allen looked back at his arm. Getting an idea, he thrust it forward, trying to recall the time traveling powers from before. Nothing. His brows knitted together and he tried again, though with less force and more finesse. Still nothing. Allen just sighed again and lied back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

_What did I do last time?_ He thought.

Allen closed his eyes momentarily and rolled over on his side. The sun was now far below the lip of the horizon. Only the flickering light of his candle remained, throwing dancing shadows across the room.

_And how am I going to get out of this mess with Lenalee?_

_--_

_**Oh noes! Romance problems!!! I hope you all enjoyed. Sorry for any fail that is my old style of writing; I'm really glad that so many of you said I improved. I really, really am! Sorry I haven't been changing many of these chapters…. But again, I'm really only going to be changing the battles, and I know that my character's personalities started to really blend together. I'm really going to try hard to fix that.**_

_**Oh yeah, I absolutely cannot leave this out. One of my amazing fans, MCutie, drew a picture of Anna for me =D I posted a link to the picture on my profile! Go check it out now, and leave lots of comments either on there, or on here! xD**_

_**So for your question of the week: Who is your favorite character in DGM? Pick any of them. And that includes my OC's, too xD  
Leave your answer in a review! =D **_

_**Anyways, again I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter, and I'll see you all next time!**_


	8. Noah Allen

The sky was a speckled black midnight canvas. A few vultures circled high outside in the faint moonlight, searching for a midnight snack. Giving a faint cry, one dropped from the air, apparently finding some food.

Inside a certain room in a certain building lay a certain white-haired boy

Allen shot up in bed. Breath came in ragged gasps. Sweat poured down his face like a waterfall. Something was coming. He could feel it…. It was coming soon; the calm before the storm. Allen fought to gain air, pushing his refusing lungs to grasp the air around him. His arms went weak; his right arm started to shake; his left eye activated and deactivated over and over again. He gave up the struggle to remain upright. Falling back onto his bed, he stared at the ceiling, bracing for the pain he thought was sure to come.

_Just like last time…._

Allen's thoughts were abruptly cut off as he heard a single heartbeat.

_Thump_. Suddenly his head felt like it was torn open by a blunt object. He saw stars. He screamed and grasped his chest.

_Thump._ Another wave of pain, this time it rolled slowly down him, like a steamroller, slowly pushing the pain down his body, throughout his veins, in his bones, everywhere. He scrunched up into a tight ball.

_Make it stop! Make it stop!_

Silvery tears rolled down Allen's cheeks. The pain stopped its slow agonizing at the middle of his stomach.

_Thump._ The pain shot through him this time, all around and then to his arm, to his legs. Allen screamed and jerked out of his fetal position.

_Thump._ The pain was numbing. Allen's thoughts were incoherent and broken. He stared dully at the ceiling with unfocused, unmoving blue-grey eyes. His fingers were cold.

And then it was gone. No mind-breaking pain, no heart-wrenching agony. And suddenly the breath came back. Allen's eyes came back to focus, and he sat up suddenly. He drank the air in giant gulps. His body seemed to have drained all of its excess fluids as he no longer sweated rivers or rained tears.

Allen's ears perked up as he heard a faint sound. It sounded faintly like laughter. It wasn't really a happy one either. The white-haired boy strained to hear more clearly. The voice wasn't deep; it could be called light, even.

Allen looked around, trying to scout out the source of the mysterious laugh. He noted that it was slowly getting louder. But then the laughter started to die slowly, until it was gone altogether.

_What…was that?_

The laughter came back abruptly. Allen had a sudden realization: the laughter was his own!

_Thump._ A screaming wave of pain came once again. Allen cried out and grasped his head tightly. The laughter died out. Then, again, out of nowhere, "his" voice came out in an amusing, yet menacing tone.

_Ready to dance?_

Allen heard laughter just before another wave of pain came. The boy lay writhing on his bed. He suddenly felt the sweet, black abyss slowly take him over.

First, Allen heard a scream. Then… there was darkness.

--

Anna woke up on her bed with a dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her skin felt clammy and it was hard to breathe.

_What's happening? Ann?_She thought to her Noah self.

"_One of them is waking up. No, not this close! Not possible…"_was all Anna heard.

_Ann? What's wrong?_

"_But it's happening. So who is it? That white-haired kid? The girl? That annoying red head? Who could it be…?"_

_Ann!_Anna screamed silently to her other self.

"_What!? What do you want? God damn it! So noisy! I'm trying to think here!"_

_What. Is. Happening?_

"_A new Noah is awakening! Damn it! Happy now?"_

_Who?_

"_If I knew, wouldn't I have told you by now?! God damn, you're so stupid too!"_

_Can you tell where it's coming from?_

"_Oh shit…Brace yourself!"_

_Wha-_ Anna was cut of abruptly as the whole building shook violently. The girl was thrown off her bed, down to the cold stone floors.

_What the hell was that?_

"_Fuck! Get to where that explosion came from!"_

_--_

Lenalee jumped out of her bed battle ready when she heard the explosion. Her activated boots clacked against the hard ground. Cold air floated in through her window.

_Attack!_ She thought as she ran out into the hallway. Passing through the door, a lungful of dust and debris greeted her.

Lenalee dropped to the ground, coughing everything she had inhaled out of her lungs. After a few moments of violent hacking, Lenalee staggered upright and activated her Innocence again. The next instant she was gone, a void of clear air where she had been.

--

Allen stood amidst the rubble of the destroyed wall, no different except for a few changes. For one, his right eye was sharp silver while his left was a vast blue. His left and right arm looked to be switched – his right arm was now a disfigured black shape, while his left looked human. There was no optimistic green glow from the Innocence imbedded in the hand; instead, the cross was a color darker than black, so dark that it seemed to draw in all the light around it. And the biggest difference of all was that all: his skin was gray and his forehead bore the seven holy marks of the Noah clan.

Yes, it was Allen, but not Allen at the same time.

'Allen' bent backwards, as if he was stretching, and gave a content sigh.

"Ah! Good to finally be out of that cramped little space of his," 'Allen' said to no one in particular. He rolled his shoulders several times to get them loose. He perked an eyebrow at the two figures that appeared at the edge of the rubble. Their faces were still partially hidden by the now fading dust.

"…Allen…kun…?"

'Allen' tilted his head slightly at the green haired girl who said his name.

A smile. "Nope! Allen's not here at the moment. Can I take a message?"

"Who the hell are you?!" the shorter girl shouted.

"Ah…. Hello Anna-_chan_. How's life been treating ya?"

"H-how do you know my name?"

"Hm… let me think about that…." 'Allen' put his hand on his chin in a mock-detective sort of way.

The two girls jumped at him in the next instant but 'Allen' was gone.

"Lucky guess, maybe?" the voice came from behind them.

Lenalee whipped around grabbed Anna and jumped back in the opposite direction faster than the eye could see. And that was purely by reflex. The girl who wielded the Dark Boots heard shouts coming from behind her as she used a nearby wall to stop herself. She dropped to the ground with a dazed Anna in her arms.

"Are you okay?" Lenalee looked down at the girl.

"Just…erp…fine." She held her hand over her mouth as her face turned a pale green. "Warn me next time though, would you?"

"Yes, yes. Sorry, I'm still not used to this yet…." Lenalee said with an apologetic smile.

"Hey, hey! Are you guys going to just sit there and talk?" 'Allen' called to the girls. He had not moved from his previous spot behind them. He shifted all his weight to one foot and put his hands on his hips. A faint tapping sound could be heard coming from his foot.

"Bah! You all are boring. Maybe these people will entertain…." 'Allen' turned around to face the crowd surging towards him. Like the girls, they too stopped at a distance in wonder. There was a red headed boy leading it and a longhaired man with a sword beside him.

"Allen?" Lavi muttered.

"No," 'Allen' sighed. He looked over the crowd for a moment, and then turned to look at the group coming from the other side of the hallway.

"Alright, listen up! Allen. Is. Not. Here! So if you would like, I can take a message for you, and convey it sometime later." He grinned evilly.

The exorcists just watched. No reply.

There was pushing from the near back, and an angry exorcist with glasses barged to the front. His hand bore Judgment, which was silently raised to 'Allen's' chest and promptly fired.

Surprise raided 'Allen's' face as the bullet hit him head on. He collapsed onto the cold, rough ground. All was silent.

"Where's Allen!" Lenalee cried as she ran over to the hole that was Allen's room.

"He. Is. Not. Here! God, how many times do I have to tell you all?" 'Allen' stood up. He bent his neck left and right several times, stretching it. The cross shape on his chest slowly faded as the bullet imbedded in it fell out of its own accord.

"Are you a Noah?" Lavi called out.

'Allen's' only reply was when he pointed to the seven Stigmata on his forehead, a "duh" look on his face.

"Well, seeing as nobody seems to wants to leave the boy a message… let the games begin!" Noah Allen laughed maliciously. The next instant he was gone, and an explosion rocked the building.

--

**_Hey, everyone! How have you all been? Glad to see you all back!  
Not really much to say…. Thanks for all of your amazing reviews!!!  
And fine, since both Allpod and MCutie got mad at me, I won't apologize for mistakes, even though I know there are some. I really hope you like my story, although I'm sure if you're with me for this long there has to be some indication of that... _**

**_  
Remember, everyone check out my profile! I have two things I would like you to do. One is to look at the picture of Anna that someone drew for me, and second, I want you to participate in the poll on the top of my profile! Please?_**

_**  
And you know what's funny? I'm writing this on the 30**__**th**__** of October, so I don't even know what kind of reviews you all gave me. But since you all are amazing, I already know!!! (Yes, I am aware that I just contradicted myself in the two sentences) **_

_**One last thing: from here on to chapter 12, it gets confusing. Please try to stay with me, and feel free to ask any questions about anything in a review, okay?**_

_**And for your weekly question of the day....hmm......uhh........Which do you prefer: Anime or Manga? Leave a review telling me which, and why!**_

_**  
Anyways, I can't wait to see you all next time!!**_


	9. Your Own Damn Problem

"Why didn't he die?" Cross swore loudly.

He spun on his heel and sprinted in the direction of the explosion, not paying any of the exorcists and finders any attention. After he got past the crowd to an open space, he started to chant without breaking pace.

_On abata ura masarakato on gataru! Grave of Maria Limit release!_

He halted to a stop and made a few complex maneuvers with his hands. All of a sudden, a dead black coffin bound in chains rose from the ground, leaving a gaping hole where it came from. He started off again, sprinting at an inhumanly pace. The black coffin floated inches above the ground behind him.

Cross turned a corner and was gone.

Everybody else barely regained his or her senses, and everything immediately broke into confusion. Every finder that was there rushed to get their equipment. Kanda and Lavi sprinted after Cross. Lenalee and Anna still just stood there, Lenalee looking into Allen's empty room in disbelief.

Komui ran out from one of the mass of people, his face wrought with fear. Without slowing down, he dove into Lenalee, hugging her tightly.

"LENALEE!! Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere!?" Komui sobbed, still clinging to his sister.

"I'm perfectly fine, Brother! The only one hurting me is—" She was cut off by her brother's scream.

"WHERE IS HE?!?! I'LL KILL HIM!" he suddenly cried.

"…You!! You're crushing me! Get off!"

Komui instantly detached himself from the girl. "…I'm so glad that you didn't get hurt, Lenalee…," he said softly.

"Thank you, Brother. But we need to find what that look-alike did with Allen! Come on, Anna!" Lenalee took the Anna's hand and started to run in the same direction as Lavi, Kanda and Cross.

Before she went no further than ten feet, a shake resounded in the opposite direction. Lenalee and Anna skidded to a halt and looked at each other. Wordlessly they took off in that direction. Lenalee jumped away, gone in the blink of an eye, while an angel wing and a bat-like wing appeared on Anna's back. Crouching, she took off after Lenalee, flying low and fast.

--

Lavi and Kanda sprinted off after the womanizing general. Just as soon as the two finally caught a glimpse of his red hair, an explosion from behind them halted the two exorcists in their place. Lavi looked ahead and saw that Cross continued on, ignoring new calamity.

"Should we continue on or go back?" Lavi turned to Kanda.

The sword-bearing exorcist looked the bookman successor in the eye.

"You go back. I'll go help Cross."

"What? No, I'm staying with you."

"We don't need a General and two strong exorcists just to take on one Noah. Hell, Cross could probably do it by his self. You go help everyone else."

"But…."

"NOW!" Kanda's stern tone had the junior Bookman scurrying.

Just as soon as Lavi turned to go back, a third explosion came from high above them.

"What?! How fast does he move?" Lavi asked, looking at the giant cloud of dust and debris that pointed out the location of the enemy.

"I'll get it! You go back and help!" Kanda ordered.

Kanda went into a low crouch, and then jumped off the balcony, high above the ground. Lavi just watched in amazement as Kanda landed safely and smoothly on the other side. He turned around to the redhead.

"What are you doing!?" Kanda yelled across the open gap. "Go help them!"

With that said, Kanda took off towards the stairs. The cloud of debris was roughly four stories above him.

There was another shake, and Lavi looked above him. High above, almost at the very top, there rained rocks down. He smiled faintly to himself.

"Well, now Yu can't object. Big Hammer, Small Hammer!" Lavi shouted, activating his Innocence.

He drove the spike on top of the head into the floor, and then grabbed the handle that was protruding high up. He extended it, rising fast. He looked up at his destination. After seeing nothing in particular, he looked back around.

Lavi continued on at a speedy pace. He looked over and saw that Kanda had just reached his destination… but something was off. Lavi slowed his ascent to look more closely at his fellow Exorcist. Kanda had a strange expression and stance. His face said he was angry, but his stance showed he was afraid.

Kanda? Afraid? Lavi had never thought it possible. The Exorcist was always so calm and level headed. Sure, he may get a little angry at times, but was never afraid. What could he possibly be facing to be _scared_?

Lavi, with one weary last look, sped upwards again. He had his own enemy to face. Kanda had his. It was not his problem. He heard several explosions from behind him. Turning to look, he saw a pair of glowing wings flying towards one. Zokalo dropped down to one that was lower down while Cloud rode Lau Jimin up to one that was at half-mast of the building. He saw Tiedoll also drop down, except he went to one that was on the other side.

Sighing, Lavi turned back to look at where he was going.

Just a few more feet, Lavi thought to himself.

Ten feet…. Seven feet…. Five…. Three…. One…. He arrived at the proper floor and wordlessly stepped onto the destroyed balcony. Calling his hammer back to a more useful size, he took a battle-ready stance.

Lavi took one cautious step forward. There was still dust all around him; he couldn't see anything. Next instant it was gone; blown away by some mysterious wind.

Lavi saw himself looking into his own eye.

"You…!" He clenched his teeth as he looked at his inner self. Lavi had fought his bookman side one before, and it was not a very easy fight. He nearly killed his friends.

"Yo."

--

Kanda raced up to get to his final destination. As he ran, he looked over and saw the bookman successor staring at him.

_Go do your own damn work!_

Kanda reached the proper floor. All around him there was dust and debris. He couldn't see in front of him. Then suddenly there was a slicing noise, and several of his hairs around his ears were sliced off. The dust blew away from an unknown wind and Kanda saw who his opponent was.

_No…._

"Yu! How have you been?" The boy standing in front of Kanda said happily.

"You bastard!" Kanda tightened his grip on Mugen. His face and words showed anger, but he was truly afraid of this boy standing before him.

"Now, now. Is that anyway to treat your old friend?"

"Shut up! You're dead! I killed you!" Kanda's knuckles were now white.

The boy's smile faltered for a split second, but it was instantly covered up by a smile. "That wasn't your choice… I know you didn't want to do it. So it's fine!"

"Shut up, Alma!" Kanda cried out. He couldn't let the reappearance of his best friend effect him.

"What's wrong, Yu? We're still friends, right?"

"Not anymore…" Kanda whispered, softly.

"I…am sorry to hear that…" Alma whispered back.

Kanda was quiet.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye?"

"Goodbye, Alma…my friend."

Kanda Yu and Alma ran at each other, swords drawn ready.

--

Lenalee landed at the base of the cloud she had been heading for. Anna had split up and went for yet another cloud. It seemed oddly quiet, though. Like all other sound was muffled.

Lenalee looked around. The bare walls of her home were dusty and had chips and scratches taken out of them. Looking back at the cloud, she took a step forward, heel clacking on the ground. That sounded muffled, too. She looked down; her ankles were hidden in the dust.

In fact, everything was muffled. Everything seemed to be slowed down, as well. She looked over and down, she saw Zokalo get hit. He flew back, but much too slow to be real. She turned her head back. The dust blew gently in place, but that was slow too.

She heard a faint noise. Something that was clear. She took more steps into the cloud. Her thighs were now invisible in the dust. She heard the sound again. It was a sort of a grunt.

Curious, Lenalee stepped forward again. Now all the way up to her chest was invisible in dust. She turned her head slightly, to capture more of the sound. She took another step forward. Time seemed to slow down even more. Up to her neck was hidden.

She heard a thump and a crack. Lenalee took a final step into the cloud, and her body, all the way past her head, was hidden in the cloud. The moment she entered, the cloud blew away and revealed what was making the noise. Lenalee let out a blood-curling scream.

--

**_Hey, everyone! Thanks for reading my new chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it!_**

**_It's kinda funny... I'm in Cullowhee, North Carolina right now. Ugh. Stupid 10 hour drive._**

**_Anywhoo, remember to go to my profile and check out the picture of anna that MCutie drew!!! I'd really ppreciate it! Oh, snf while you're there, participate in my poll! :D_**

**_Okay, for your weekly question....what's the longest drive you've ever been in? Like mine has probably been like 16-17 hours. What about you?_**

**_Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews! I really, really appreciate it, and it's really the only reason I keep writing this :)_**

**_I'll see you all next time! Paka!_**


	10. Malcolm Levrier, Noah of Loyalties

"…Huh…?" The words echoed, as if in a giant room. "Where…am…I?" The words rebounded, as if lost and seeking guidance.

Allen opened his eyes to darkness.

He did not seem to be laying down on anything; nor was he standing. He seemed to just be floating. Frozen in time and space.

He slowly cocked his head to the right. Only more blackness greeted him.

"What…?"

He got the feeling of moving; as if he was slowly gliding to an unknown direction.

His thoughts were muddled and slow, as if he had just woken up from a long, long sleep.

Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness. There WAS light where he was. Something was giving off a faint glow.

He felt himself tipping forward, his back rising, and then he was standing. There was a faint pressure around his legs, like he was standing in water. Allen turned his head towards the light.

There, some three feet in the air stood a shimmering ripple in contrast to the dark background. It was almost like a curtain, and behind it, Allen saw a silhouette of something moving. It was like a curtain had been placed in front of a movie screen, obscuring all but the faintest of images.

He walked forward slowly, trudging through the water.

When Allen reached the veil of light, he found it to be about six feet tall. The veil was hovering above the ground at three feet which brought the total height of the veil to be nine feet tall.

Slowly, Allen reached out his right hand. He paused inches from the veil, indecisive. Then, with a brief flash of determination, thrust his hand forward, fingertips brushing lightly against the mysterious wall of shadowy light.

A gale-like wind blew the instant Allen touched the veil. A startling burst of bright light took over the room, and Allen had to cover his eyes as they had adjusted to the dim light.

Slowly, he was able to blink things into focus. In front of him lay a giant screen-like image.

"Lena…lee?"

--

_Crack._

Lenalee screamed.

"Y-you!"

Allen hit the floor, unseeing eyes staring at the ceiling, a gaping hole in his chest and his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

The killer stood up, hands dripping with blood.

"Why, hello, Ms. Lee!" He smiled sweetly, as if he had not just murdered someone with his bare hands. The smile was horrendously out of place on Levrier's face.

Lenalee gasped and almost vomited as Allen's head rolled over. His dead eyes stared straight at her.

The killer took a few steps, placing himself between Lenalee and Allen's body, shielding it from sight. From his pocket he produced a white handkerchief with which he proceeded to wipe his hands.

The white silk turned red.

"You killed him!" Lenalee's voice shook, and she dropped to her knees. Tears streamed down her face.

"Killed who?" He tilted his head ever so slightly and smiled. His toothbrush mustache twitched some.

"A-Allen!" She choked out. Anger flared within her.

It burned her insides.

"Oh… the Traitor. I'm sorry Ms. Lee, but it was a necessity." A slight frown took place of the smile. "Rest assured, though, we no-longer have to fear being destroyed from the inside."

Lenalee clenched her teeth together until they hurt. She stood up, anger seething from her person. Malcolm C. Levrier looked slightly taken aback.

"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You!" She spat out through tightly clenched teeth. The butterflies on the back of her Innocence radiated with a black aura.

Tears streamed out of hate-filled eyes.

Levrier raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we can't have that now, can we?"

He sauntered forward as something appeared on his forehead. Lenalee's eyes went wide, anger forgotten for the moment.

"Y-you're a…!"

Lenalee took a step back.

"Yes. You are correct. And now you must disappear."

Levrier stepped forward once again, seven black Stigmata on his gray-skinned forehead. He smiled again.

"It was nice to know you, Ms. Lee."

And he was gone.

Lenalee felt a sudden pain in her chest. She looked down and found a bloody hole where here heart should have been. Suddenly light-headed, Lenalee wobbled and fell to the ground. One arm tucked underneath her stomach, the other spread out, and she went face-first to the hard, cold ground.

"Goodbye, Ms. Lee," Levrier said to the now dying girl.

Lenalee heard a far away voice. She slowly moved her eye to face him. In his now bloody hand was an odd lump.

Oh… It was her heart.

A warm liquid was soaking her shirt and sleeves. He brother was going to be mad again. She dirtied her newly cleaned uniform. The blood flowed and pooled around her body like the previous anger that she could no longer feel.

Levrier stood up and walked away, bloody lump still in his hand.

Lenalee took her last breath. It escaped as a sigh. The wind caused little ripples to form in the liquid around her face.

_Sorry…Brother._

--

Allen yanked his hand back. Tears stained his face. His hand stung, but he paid it no mind. He threw his eyes up to the screen where a still image of the dead Lenalee, with a hole that passed through her back and front, hovered in the air. Allen stared at it disbelievingly. He unconsciously held his aching hand.

"No…No! She can't be dead!" he cried out. He brought his hands up and placed them on the screen. "It's not possible! I need to go there!" He pushed his hands against the screen. "Come on! Take me back!" He screamed at the screen. He pounded both fists against it hard. He winced as his hands started to sting. "Take me back!" He cried out with one final burst of energy, and threw himself at the screen.

And suddenly he was in the hall where he had seen Lenalee die. To his left, he saw various other battle occurring. But in front of him was what mattered most. He turned to look Lenalee in the eyes. Only she was staring at him like he was an enemy.

"W-what's wrong, Lenalee?" Allen asked, nervous.

"Can't you see? It's me! Allen!"

"What are you talking about!?" She screeched, hate laced in her voice. "You killed him!"

"What?" Allen was taken aback. "I'm not dead! See?"

He raised his arm and gasped. What he saw wasn't his arm. It was a dark gray color, and is left arm was not disfigured by Innocence. His right arm, on the other hand, was disfigured: It looked like his activated Crowned Clown.

"Wait! Something's not right!" He cried.

"Yes! You _killed_ Allen!" Lenalee cried, tears starting to fall.

"And I'm going to kill you for it!"

She lunged at Allen. Pure reflex saved his life. His right arm was suddenly in his face, blocking the kick that Lenalee had sent flying towards him. She hissed and jumped back, feet sliding against the ground.

"Stop, Lenalee! I _am_ Allen! I didn't kill him!" Allen pleaded.

"Allen wouldn't be so heartless!" She jumped at him again.

She was stopped again, and thrown back.

She clenched her fists and teeth, and jumped forward once more. She then faked and spun around, kicking Allen in the back of the head. The force sent him flying through a wall. Allen, lay there, dazed.

"_See?"_a voice rang out clearly inside his muddled mind. _"I had this fight until you came along. Move out of the way."_

And Allen no longer had control of his body. He saw himself stand up, but couldn't do anything about it. He felt himself turn towards the advancing Lenalee, but couldn't help it. And he felt himself lunge forward, striking Lenalee in the chest with a well-aimed punch. But he did not do it. Lenalee flew back and landed heavily on the ground a ways away. She hastily stood up.

Allen blinked, and next thing he knew, he had Lenalee in a choke hold. She was feebly struggling, gasping for air and tugging on his arm.

"No!" He wanted to shout and let go. But he couldn't.

_No!_ He shouted at the voice in his again. But he only felt his grip grow tighter. Lenalee's breath was becoming ragged gasps for air.

_NO!_He screamed, and suddenly he had control again. He instantly let go of Lenalee, who collapsed onto the ground, tenderly feeling her throat and gasping for air.

Allen looked at his hands in fear and backed away slowly, shaking his head. He heard pounding of feet, coming from the direction of Lenalee. He looked up, and behind her stood Cross with Judgment pointed at Allen's head. He looked down and Lenalee, who was still gasping for air.

She stared back angrily.

Allen said two words only, regret etched over his face. "I'm sorry."

He saw Lenalee's eyes go wide, as if just realizing some great truth.

"Stay dead this time, punk." He heard Cross' voice, but it was far in the distance. His eyes and ears were only for Lenalee, still on the ground.

He heard a bang, and Lenalee cry out, and then nothing. All he saw was darkness.

--

**_Hey everyone! Yes, I am quite aware that this chapter is confusing. But then again, that was partially my intention._**

**_Anywho, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy it!_**

**_Again, please go to my profile, check out the picture of Anna, and vote in the poll._**

**_Now if you'll excuse me while I go paint my room!!! Byebye!_**


	11. Atmintis, Noah of Memories

"Allen?" Lenalee stared wide-eyed at Allen, whose skin was now bleaching in color, smoking hole in his chest.

The seven stigmata on his forehead disappeared along with the grey skin. Soon the normal white-haired, normal skinned Allen lay on the ground.

"Huh. He really did die," Cross said smugly.

Lenalee scrambled over to her fallen partner. A strange feeling was coming over her: It was fear. She didn't want him to die, she had thought he had died before, and now that he was back, he was being torn from her again. Tears started to fall a she gingerly picked up his head and set it in her lap. Her tears stained his dusty cheek.

"Please…don't die," she whispered, he throat suddenly tight.

Cross just watched in silence, wearing a solemn expression.

Lenalee, without thinking, slowly leaned down and kissed Allen on the lips. As she straightened up, she paused. He was breathing! Hopeful, she snapped her head towards Cross.

"He's alive! Help me get him to the infirmary!" Lenalee ordered, proceeding to lift the boy up.

"The only place he'll be going is a cell," Cross said as he strode over, took the unconscious boy from the girl's hands, turned and left.

"What?! No! He needs medical attention!" Lenalee cried, following the red-haired general.

"No he doesn't. Didn't you notice that his wound isn't even bleeding? He'll be fully healed by the time we get there," Cross spoke indifferently.

"But why does he need to be locked up? That wasn't him doing that! It was someone else!" she quickly countered.

"And who do you think was doing that!?" Cross spun around to face Lenalee. "This boy was being controlled by the 14th. A _Noah_. Now I don't know exactly how much it has taken control, but judging by the face that he had control at the end, he might still have some time. That doesn't change the fact that the Noah could reemerge again. And if he does, I doubt we'll be able to stop him," Cross continued as he walked briskly down the halls.

Lenalee followed.

--

"There. I doubt he'll be able to get out of that," Komui said solemnly as he looked at a heavily enchanted Allen.

Allen was sitting, unconscious, on a barely padded cot, inside a cell. Komui was looking through a window in the door.

"Does it hurt him, Brother?" Lenalee said worriedly.

"No." Komui smiled softly at his sister. "Don't worry."

"What about the Vatican? Surely they'll try to kill him now! Brother, it wasn't him doing that! No one really got hurt badly, so where's the harm?" Lenalee said, growing frantic.

"The Vatican doesn't have to know." Komui turned to his little sister with a small twinkle in his eye.

"I still don't think he needs to be there…."

"It's both for his safety and ours. We're not letting him out until we can be absolutely positive that he isn't going to change again."

--

"So…. That Noah before was actually Allen," Lavi said to his grandfather, and partially to himself, as he looked out into the night sky. Clouds were rolling in, covering the moon.

Lavi and Bookman were on a balcony that overlooked the landscape far below. Looking down, he could see the remnants of his fight with Tyki before. Scorch marks and cuts marred the ground and building below.

"Only three or four more hours 'till dawn by the looks of it," he muttered to himself.

"Indeed. There has never been recording of an Exorcist turning into a Noah. I wonder what state his Crown Clown is in. This will make history for sure."

"Mhm." Lavi grunted his acknowledgement of the spoken words, still staring at the moon as it hid behind the dark, stormy clouds

--

A door was shut. The nameplate with the name Yu Kanda on it, the Yu scribbled out furiously. Inside, a sheathed Mugen hung on a rack on a wall. A small candle was giving off a feeble light, sitting on a small, unused desk. The moonlight shone momentarily through the single, large window.

Kanda sat on his bed, shirtless, examining himself in the soft glow of his candle. The numerous cuts and slashes he had acquired previously had healed already. The intricate designs of his tattoo were clear were clearly visible in the pale light.

He cast a glance at the top half of his uniform: it was cut to ribbons. He then looked at the slowly wilting lotus flower on the table in front of him. Another petal looked about ready to fall off.

"Tch."

--

_Knock, knock._

Anna sat up in her bed, looking at the door.

"Come in."

The door cracked open, and Anna found an unfamiliar face poking through.

"May I help you?" Anna asked, standing up to open the door fully.

Miranda stood up straight and put her hands together, a small smile forming on her face. "Hi, Anna-san. My name is Miranda. I'm one of the Exorcists here, though I'm one of the more useless ones…. Anyways, I realized that I hadn't properly introduced myself, so here I am now."

"U-uh, hi!" Anna said, unsure what exactly to do.

"Um…I'll just be on my way now. If there's anything you need, I'm directly below you." Miranda gave another hesitant smile and pointed downwards.

"Okay. I'll stop by sometime later." Anna smiled back.

"Well, okay then. Good-bye," Miranda said as she turned and left.

As she turned, he foot got caught behind her leg and she came crashing down.

"Ouch," the older Exorcist muttered, rubbing her now sore forehead.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked, rushing to the German woman's side.

"I'm fine. It happens a lot." She gave a faint giggle and attempted at stand up again. She got up about halfway straight before she slipped and landed flat on her face.

"Are you okay?" Anna echoed, slightly worried.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Miranda reassured as she managed to stand fully up and head towards the direction of the stairs. She looked over her shoulder one last time.

"Bye, Anna-chan."

--

Allen was put in confinement. That was not right. So Lenalee decided to sneak in and talk to him, figure out what was wrong. One way or another, she was going to talk to Allen before she got her much-needed sleep.

--

"_See? If you hadn't jumped in, we wouldn't be here right now,"_a voice lectured Allen.

"Shut up. If I hadn't butted in, Lenalee and everyone would be dead right now!" Allen replied through clenched teeth.

He sat up on his uncomfortable cot. It was mildly difficult to get into a comfortable position, as he had no use of his arms: they were bound solidly to his sides through many, many enchantments.

"Who are you, anyways?"

"_14th__Noah. I suppose I'm the one that they call 'Noah of Memories.'"_

"Oh great. So now I've got a Noah inside me too. I guess it makes it a little better that you're against the Earl…."

"_Yea. But that doesn't mean I'm on you side. I'm not on either side."_

"Great." Allen rolled his eyes. "So do you have a name?"

"_Atmintis. __Hey, you know that you shouldn't be here for too much longer?"_

"Well, hello, Atmintis," Allen said, rolling the odd name off of his tongue. For some reason, the name surprised him. He had expected it to be simpler. He then remembered what else the Noah had said.

"And why not? Besides, if staying in here rebuilds my trust, I'll stay forever if I have to." Allen snapped defiantly.

"_If you don't leave by your own will, I'm going to do it for you."_

"And I'm not going to let you."

"_You caught me off guard last time. I'm much stronger than you."_

"And why was it so painful earlier?"

"_What? You thought that the transformation from Human to Noah was going to be as smooth as the skin of that girl you stare at so much?"_

Allen's face flushed red.

"_And it doesn't help the process any with that fact that you have Innocence. Parasitic too. You got the wrong end of the stick, boy."_

"Whatever. Is it going to happen again?"

"_I would think so."_

Allen groaned.

"_But I doubt it will be as painful as the last time. And this should be the last time it hurts at all."_

"I don't want to become a Noah."

"_Too late. You got on, so you're in for the ride. Now granted, it wasn't exactly by choice… But hey, life's not fair. And yours in particular seems to be more unlucky than others."_

"Yay me," the exorcist sarcastically said to himself.

"_Well, looks like you're not going to do anything to try to get out of here. Move out of the way."_

"No!"

And suddenly Allen was unconscious, asleep in his own mind.

--

_Boom._

"What!? Again?" Lenalee cried out.

She almost had enough. She activated her Dark Boots and took off towards the cell Allen was in. What greeted her was not something she wanted to see.

The whole wall was a jagged, gaping, giant hole. And inside was not much better. Everything was smashed. Dirt and dust reigned in the room. The hundreds of charms used to seal Allen were torn and scattered across the room.

But something else caught Lenalee's eye. Over in a corner, half covered by rocks, was a dying greenish glow. She ran over to it and threw everything out of the way. What lay underneath she could not believe.

It was Innocence. And it was attached to something else.

It was Allen's left arm.

But it was not his whole arm. It looked as if only the deformity had broken off, leaving only a shell. But the Innocence had left with it.

_Does that mean…?_ She didn't want to continue.

A feeling in her gut had her standing up and running towards the front entrance. On the way out, she saw Komui and Lavi sprinting towards her at top speed, loosely followed by others.

"Lenalee, what happened?!" Lavi said when he reached her, out of breath.

Wordlessly, Lenalee handed over the shell she had been carrying. Lavi took it, wide eyed.

"Isn't this…?" Lavi started, but Lenalee didn't hear him finish. She was gone, taking off for the entrance.

Jumping. Running. Passing people in a blur.

Then she was at the entrance. She paused only long enough for the door to open halfway of her height. Tears started to fall; she knew what was about to happen.

She was outside in a flash. Sprinkling rain met her.

She saw a figure standing at the cliff's edge, looking back- as if waiting for her. Without wasting time, she drove onwards, and stopped feet from Noah Allen. Her tears mixed with the rain that was collecting on her face.

"So you're leaving." She said, fighting to keep her voice steady.

"Yes, we're leaving." Atmintis confirmed.

"We're?"

"I've told you. I'm not Allen. But he's still in here." He tapped the side of his head.

"Will I ever see him again?"

"I do not know. It is a possibility. But he wanted you to know that he loved you."

"He…what?"

"He loved you, but was too afraid to admit it. Don't worry. I'll tell him that you love him back. Yes, I already know."

"W-what?"

"He also says to 'not be scared. I promise one day I'll come back.'"

"And I'm supposed to believe you?"

"Yes, you are. Now this is from me. It will help you remember Allen, and will aide you in battle. Besides, it's not like he's going to need it anymore."

Atmintis took three steps forward, spanning the distance between the two of them. He gently took Lenalee's head in both his hands. He stared into her eyes, and she stared back. But her gaze was not directed at him. It was directed at Allen.

"Allen says sorry."

And suddenly there was a torturous pain coming from the left side of Lenalee's face. She dropped to the ground, clutching her face and screaming.

She felt a small gash open up on the left side of her forehead, and blood trickle down. Slowly the blood stopped near the bottom of her cheek.

She felt a voice near her ear.

"You have his curse now. You always wanted to see what he saw, and now you get your wish. Use it well."

And then Atmintis stood up. He turned to leave, but paused at the edge of the cliff. He turned back to face the girl, to give Allen one last glimpse of the one he loved. He watched as Lenalee's hair bleached from its usual dark green color to that of snow. And then Atmintis turned back and jumped, leaving the crying girl behind in the cold mud and rain.

_**

* * *

**_

END PART 1

* * *

**_Hey, everyone! What did you think? Not expecting that, I hope? Actually, I just really hope you all liked it.  
Liked it enough to leave it a review about how good or bad it was!~! Mwahaha!!!  
_****_Anywhoozle, sorry it was kinda late in the night, but I had actually completely forgotten that I needed to post it today. Sorry! I am soooo flipping thankful that I already have a bunch of chapters written. You have noo idea. The only problem is that once I get caught up in 10 weeks or so, the chance that I'll have to skip a week or two will greatly increase... I'm a bad author. Sorry!_**

**__****_Oh! I also changed the summary of the story if you couldn't tell. I changed it back to the one that my fan and old editor gave me for Two Halves, One Whole. Tell me if you like this one now or the one I had before better!_**

**__****_On another note, I've been watching Lucky Star Recently. So random and funny! For those of you who have seen it, my favorite part of each episode is the Lucky Channel at the end. Hilarious xD_**

**__****_And I realized shortly after I posed the chapter last time that I had forgotten to add a question of the week. _**

**__****_For this question of the week....Drumroll please....What is your favorite anime of all time? And that means besides DGM for those of you who would put that as your number one*cough*me*cough* _**

**_Again, thank you all for sticking with me this far, I'm really, really thankful to you all. Leave a review if you wanna be nice and make me suuuuuper happy, and I can't wait to hear from you guys next week!! I hope you await the next part of my story!!!_**

**_Byebye, everybody!_**


	12. Memories

She saw a figure standing at the cliff's edge, looking back- as if waiting for her. Without wasting time, she drove onwards, and stopped feet from Noah Allen. Her tears mixed with the rain that was collecting on her face.

"So you're leaving?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.

"Yes, we're leaving," Jacob confirmed.

"We're?"

"I've told you. I'm not Allen. But he's still in here." He tapped the side of his head.

"Will I ever see him again?"

"I do now know. It is a possibility. But he wanted you to know that he loved you."

"He…what?"

"He loved you, but was too afraid to admit it. Don't worry. I'll tell him that you love him back. Yes, I already know."

"W-what?"

"He also says to 'not be scared. I promise one day I'll come back.'"

"And I'm supposed to believe you?"

"Yes, you are. Now this is from me. It will help you remember Allen, and will aide you in battle. Besides, it's not like he's going to need it anymore."

Jacob took three steps forward, spanning the distance between the two of them. He gently took her head in both his hands. He stared into her eyes, and she stared back. But it was not at him. It was at Allen.

"Allen says sorry."

When the pain was supposed to come, Lenalee woke. It was always this way. It was the same dream; the same conversation… and the same good-bye. She brought her hand up and felt the blood red mark on her cheek unconsciously. She sighed and flopped back down.

Sometimes she wished the pain really was real: maybe it would distract her from missing him.

But probably not.

Lenalee closed her eyes and listened to the mid-morning sounds. The gentle songs of the birds from outside, accompanied by the cries of the seagulls. The crash of waves against the rocky shore. She heard a dog barking joyously as it chased around landed birds.

"Time to get up, I suppose." Lenalee said to herself.

She hopped out of bed and got changed from her nightgown to her normal Exorcist's uniform. She took her time. She pulled her shoulder-length hair into a high ponytail, and examined herself in the small bedside mirror in her room.

She still couldn't get used to the red curse mark on the left side of her face, with a filled in, upside-down, scarlet pentacle above her eye. Nor could she get used to the snow-white hair that was now hers.

Sighing, she left her room and headed to the cafeteria. On the way, she stopped by a door and rapped three quick times on it.

"Nick. Nate. Time to get up."

Simultaneous grumbles were her reply. Satisfied, she continued her trek to the cafeteria.

When she reached the large room, she scanned it. Quickly she found a grinning redhead and brown haired girl waving her over in the midst of many tan-suited finders. She hurried over and sat down.

Lavi said, still grinning: "Hey, snowy."

Anna giggled while Lenalee smiled a sarcastic one back. "Its getting old, Lavi."

"Did you sleep well?" Anna put in.

"Fine, thank you. Just the usual…" Lenalee trailed off. She came back and finished her sentence, "…how about you?"

"Really well! All the beds here are so comfortable and warm and stuff! Even though I've been here for almost a year, I still love it!

Just then, two identical twin children, no more than 14 years old, shuffled in, split around the table and sat down on either side of Lavi at the exact same time, as if they were mirroring each other's movements perfectly. They both yawned simultaneously and let their heads hit the table tiredly. Lenalee giggled slightly and Lavi just looked at them both.

"'Morning, Nate, Nick." Anna said quietly, looking at the tops of their heads.

They just grunted as they folded their arms underneath their heads, using them as pillows. They both had a very light blue hair, so light it was more of snow white with a miniscule blue tint. When standing straight, they were roughly three inches shorter than Lenalee. The sleeves of their uniforms both went down past their hands by a fingertip's width, though one of the boys could be seen wearing white gloves.

"You two want anything? I'm going to get my own breakfast," Lenalee asked the twins.

The two heads shook, still covered partially by their arms.

"Alright then." Lenalee stood up and strode over towards the small line waiting for food.

When she was next, Jerry welcomed her enthusiastically. "Good morning Lenalee!" He smiled happily. He leaned on the little sill that was the bottom of the large opening.

"What would you like today?"

"Can I just get some fried eggs, yolks popped?"

"Coming right up!" He called as he dashed further into the kitchen.

Suddenly a large, grey wolf was standing next to Lenalee. There was the green glow of Innocence radiating from in between his shoulder blades. He sat down and barked once.

"Just a minute, Jinx!" Jerry called from deep inside the kitchen.

"Hello, Jinx," Lenalee greeted warmly as he bent down and scratched his head. His tail started wagging fast.

"Watch out, Lenalee!" Jerry said as a giant cooked turkey leg flew out through the window. Lenalee leaned back just in time as the airborne hunk of meat was caught in the jaws of an airborne wolf.

"Nice catch." Lenalee smiled.

"Woof," he barked- the sound was muffled because of the leg in his mouth. He sat down, leg still in his mouth, waiting.

"Sorry. Here's your breakfast. Have a nice day, Lenalee!" Jerry said as he handed her a plate with steaming fried eggs.

"Thank you. I'll see you at lunch!" She replied.

"Bye, bye!"

"Come on, Jinx," she said to the waiting canine, who stood up and trotted after her, tail wagging faintly.

When she sat back down next to Anna, who was laughing (undoubtedly from something Lavi just said), Lenalee dug in. Jinx lied down at the base of the table, and quietly tore into his breakfast. Soon both of them were done, and Lenalee held her plate down next to her leg. Jinx dropped the bones on it. She then threw away all the trash, and gave the dishes back to the kitchen.

Lenalee looked at the entrance to the cafeteria just at the same time as a figure passed by. Her brows grew closer together. Lenalee didn't really like Ariella. The woman ignored almost everyone save Kanda.

"She and Kanda are similar enough to be twins…personality wise." Lavi commented; he had seen her too.

"Hey!" Lenalee's eyes lit up, "Maybe that's where she's going!" She put her hands on the table.

Anna laughed at Lavi's joke.

"Wha…?"

"Come on. We have some stalking to do." Lenalee giggled again.

Lavi grinned and the three of them stood up, followed by Jinx, tongue hanging out and tail wagging. The twins wordlessly followed suit, still in the odd synchronicity.

The five humans and one wolf all headed towards the door.

Lenalee was just about to pass through the doorway when she ran straight into Reever.

"Ah good. Just who I was looking for," he said, scanning the group. His eyes "Komui needs you all."

"All six of us?" Anna inquired.

The twins remained silent.

"Yea. All of you guys, in his office."

"For?"

"Another mission, I think." Reever scratched the back of his head.

"Alright! I hope it isn't anything too hard, though." Anna beamed.

"But, I don't know. He could be calling you all to torture you. Or maybe he and Matt made something new."

"No! Not another invention! Those are never fun!" Anna winced alone with Lenalee. They both had some pretty bad experiences with Komui and Matt's inventions.

"Yea, I think it is a mission. Anyways, get in there."

Jinx barked.

"Yes, you too." Reever looked down.

The twins yawned.

"Okay. See you later, Reever." Lenalee smiled, and started off towards the supervisor's office.

"Yea, see you." He said, and he stood back to let the rest of the group.

Soon the six of them were shuffling into Komui's office, stepping on the ankle deep sea of papers covering his floor.

"Good morning, Lenalee-chan!" Komui cried as he almost tackled his sister to the ground in a hug. "Did you sleep well?"

"Just fine, Brother. Please let go."

"How could I let my beautiful Lenalee go, especially when she's not anything but happy?! Be happy, Lenalee! You're caring older brother is here for you!" Komui wailed.

"Brother…" Lenalee felt a vein pop out on her forehead right before she stomped on his foot with all of her might.

"Ow! Lenalee!" Komui cried as he hopped on one foot, clutching his injured one. "Why do you treat your kind older brother so badly?!"

Lenalee ignored the man's crying and went to sit down.

The twins sat on either side of a three person couch, both leaning on the arm rests, head propped up with a palm. Anna plopped down enthusiastically in between them, resting her arms on the back of the couch.

Nick and Nate yawned and Jinx sat next to the couch. Lenalee and Lavi both took chairs on opposite ends of the couch.

Komui stopped his crying and coughed once, and soon all eyes were trained on him.

Komui himself sat on the edge of his desk. He looked back at the mountain of papers, shifted through them for a moment, and produced a newer-looking, less crumpled sheet that only had one coffee ring on it.

"What we need you to do is go to Moscow, Russia." Komui said as he studied the paper.

"What for?" Lavi interrupted.

"I'm getting there!" Komui snapped in a teasing way, mocking a hurt tone as he finished scanning the paper. "According to the men we have posted there," Komui finally looked up from the paper, regaining his seriousness, "There have been accounts of a man suddenly disappearing in the middle of a crowd, only to appear somewhere else. They think it may be an Innocence user. Or it might be another Noah. But we don't know. Either way, I want you all to go."

"All of us? Wouldn't just one or two of us be enough?" Anna asked. Jinx folded his legs underneath him and lied down.

"Normally, yes. But Nick and Nate need the experience, as much as I hate it. And should it be a Noah, even you four may not be enough." Komui nodded at Anna, Lavi, Lenalee and Jinx. "And Nick would come in handy should you get injured." He added on, eyeing one of the Twins.

"Nate," the stared at twin mumbled. He lazily lifted his arm and pointed at his counterpart. "That's Nick."

Nate's eyes remained closed the whole time, and Nick did not move.

"Right, sorry! Maybe we should look into getting your names sewed onto your uniforms," Komui suggested slyly.

Two heads shook, and the rest laughed.

--

"Hey! You can't take that dog on there!" The stationmaster yelled.

Everybody stopped, and Nate turned around, wearing dark sunglasses and holding onto a metal bar that was harnessed around Jinx's body.

"He's a seeing eye dog. For my younger brother," Lenalee explained apologetically.

"Oh yea? I heard those things were supposed to be well trained," The fat stationmaster said, more to himself, with his hands on his hips.

"Go on and ask him to do something, then," Lenalee offered.

"Here boy!"

Nate let go of the handle, and Jinx sauntered over to the man. He stopped when he was a foot away.

"Sit!"

He promptly sat.

"Lie down!"

He did as he was told. Lenalee and Anna sighed.

"Roll over." The man's tone was becoming less harsh, and more amused.

Jinx followed directions, then sat while looking up at the stationmaster with large eyes.

"Alright. You can take him. Just make sure he don't bother anybody," He shook a stubby finger at the rest of them, "cause' I'll find out!"

"Yes sir. We'll make sure he doesn't cause a scene." Anna smiled at the big man.

"Here, Jinx!" Nick called, and Jinx stood up and trotted back to Nate's side, where Nick faked guiding Nate's hand to the bar. He grasped it firmly.

They boarded the train.

--

Once they had found their cabin, which was extra large thanks to Komui, everyone collapsed onto the red leather seats inside. Nate took off the sunglasses and blinked a few times.

"It's kinda bright outside."

He and Nick sat facing each other, on the side next to the door. Lenalee reached down and removed the harness on Jinx. Once it was off, he shook himself all over. Lenalee rubbed his back.

"Sorry you had to wear that uncomfortable thing," Lenalee apologized.

Jinx wagged his tail softly and licked Lenalee's hand as she removed the harness. Lavi sat down next to Nick, and Anna sat next to Nate. Lenalee sat next to her, and Jinx lay on the thinly carpeted floor in the middle of the cabin.

Lenalee sighed and shifted into a more comfortable position. "Well, we've got another nine hours until we get there. Better get settled in." She leaned against the cabin wall.

"Yea," Lavi agreed. The twins grunted slightly, already half asleep. Anna was snoring already, much to the amazement of Lavi and Lenalee.

Lenalee gave a tiny sigh which did not escape Lavi's observations and leaned on the wall, looking out of the window.

_Oh. It's been a year today, since he left…._ Lenalee thought suddenly as she surveyed the passing landscape.

A year later and she still wanted to cry.

* * *

Strange. I posted this 7 hours ago, but the notification never went out. Ah well, I'm just reposting it.

**_Hey everyone!!! I'm super excited because it's snowing here!!! We have nine inches so far, and we're supposed to get up to 22 inches!!! It's awesome because we haven't had this much snow in yearsss.  
Anyways, I hope you all liked it, thank you all who reviewed last chapter, so so much. _**

**_I can't wait to hear from all of you!_**

**_For your weekly question... what's your favorite time of the year and why? LEave it in a review!_**

**_One more thing, go to my page and participate in the poll there, please! :D_**

**_Bye! I'll talk to you all next time!_**


	13. Moscow, Russia

The giant steam engine train slowed down to a screeching stop at the edge of Moscow, Russia. The sun was falling far below the horizon as the many passengers stepped off. Of the hundreds that may have done so within mere minutes, six of them attracted the most attention: a girl with pure, snow-white hair, another tall girl who looked the most normal, a randomly grinning red-head wearing an eye patch, two identical twins with light blue hair that looked like they were about to fall sleep, and a giant wolf who's shoulder level reached the middle of the brown haired girl's stomach. Every single other person gave the group a large berth as they stepped off the train. Once off, the Exorcists gathered around the snow-haired girl. The residents and tourists of Moscow gave them a ten-foot berth.

Lavi set down his suitcase and stretched his shoulders. "Man, I always hate long train rides," he whined.

"Who doesn't?" Anna agreed as she worked out the kinks in her back.

Nick put on Nate's sunglasses and picked up Jinx's harness with a gloved hand.

"My turn." Jinx started walking slowly forward, leading an acting Nick. Everyone else grabbed their suitcases and followed.

--

"Man, I can't make heads or tails of this thing. Here, you try," Lavi suggested as he studied a badly drawn map- courtesy of Komui. He handed it to Lenalee. They were at a small park, looking for the hotel where they had rooms already booked. The streetlights were shining brightly and the sun had long gone to sleep.

Nick sat on a bench, staring at nothing in particular, while Jinx sat obediently in front. Nate sat on the other side, twirling a tiny stick in his hands and humming quietly to himself. Anna was taking up a whole other bench by laying on it, using her bag as a pillow.

A few benches away, a dark skinned man was laying down on a bench in the same fashion as Anna. His clothes were ragged, torn and dirty.

"Seems every city will have poverty…." Nate said sadly after glancing up at the man.

Lenalee took the piece of paper and studied it for a moment.

"It's that way," she pointed down a street behind them. "Should only be a few more minutes walk."

Lavi took the map back and stared at it shrewdly. After a moment, his flipped it upside down and tried again. He then turned it diagonally. "Damn. How do you read that?"

Anna opened one eye and smiled to herself at Lavi.

While Lavi didn't notice a thing, the smile didn't escape Lenalee's eyes. The elder exorcist smiled at the younger's love.

"It wasn't easy." Lenalee took the paper back and folded it up, where she placed into one of her jacket pockets. "Nick, Nate, Anna. Come on, we're almost there."

Anna immediately popped up. "Yes! Finally! A warm, cozy bed!" she cheered.

So, with Lenalee leading the way, they headed off in the direction that she had earlier pointed. The streets were crowded with people, even though the sun was long gone. It wasn't exactly quiet either. People were talking and walking, dogs were barking, older teens were yelling to each other, playing some sort of tackling game on the grass.

Lenalee led her little band of Exorcists straight through the park, around the rough game that was going on a little ways down.

Emerging on the other side, they found themselves in a relatively crowded area. People were hurrying home from work, or tourists were scanning the city for the nighttime view. Lenalee hurried on, Lavi and Anna following closely behind, while Nate walked beside Nick, who was being gently pulled by Jinx.

Lenalee looked down at the map the she pulled back out from her pocket. She studied it for a moment, and then satisfied, she put it away again. As soon as she looked up, she ran straight into something.

"Sorry sir!" She immediately said, bowing deeply. She looked up at him.

The boy was staring back wide-eyed, a pained look on his face.

"…Sir?"

"It's nothing. I'm sorry as well. Enjoy your stay in Moscow!" he welcomed as he shook his head quickly, as if attempting to clear something from his mind. He swiftly hurried on, with Lavi and Anna following him with their eyes.

Moments later, a strange ripple went through every person in the square. Everybody stopped with a confused look on their faces. The game-playing teens behind them stopped mid-run, joggers slowed to a stop, surveying their surroundings, as if they were suddenly lost. But all of the activities quickly resumed.

The group all looked around strangely. Lenalee turned around.

"When did we get here? Weren't we way over there?" she asked, confused as she pointed to the benches were they were previously resting.

"I don't know. I don't remember getting here at all." Lavi shrugged.

"Neither do I," said Anna, mystified.

"Nor did we," The twins said simultaneously.

Jinx growled.

Lenalee pulled out the map again, and studied it. "Yea, we're going in the right direction." She concluded, still wondering.

It was strange; she had no memory whatsoever of moving. Last thing she remembered, she was talking to Lavi, discussing where to go. Then the next thing she knew, there was a slight tingling in her shoulders, as if she had recently hit something, and she was on the other side of the park. There was defiantly something going on.

"Well, we'll figure this out at the hotel."

--

"_Rico said he should be on the North side of the park."_

_Yea, I know._

A teenage boy, roughly 16 or 17 years of age, was weaving swiftly through the crowds with a concentrated look on his face. He had silvery-grey eyes, stood at roughly six feet, and had eye-length rusty red-brown hair. His hands were in his coat pockets.

"_Good. Just checking. How the hell did you let her get away last time?"_

_I don't know. She was unexpectedly strong._

"_I told you that you should never underestimate your opponent's strength."_

_Yea, yea, yea. I kn—_

The boy's sentence was cut off as he ran straight into a girl who looked about a year older than him, yet a foot shorter than him. She immediately bowed.

"Sorry sir!"

Allen stared wide-eyed at her. That was…Lenalee? She had changed so much. It was not what he wanted. He did not want her to have his curse; he did not want her have to see the gruesome images he saw. She didn't deserve the snow-white hair that attracted all the attention, even when it wasn't wanted.

Allen's face showed regret.

"…Sir?" She looked up. But he didn't need to worry; she wouldn't recognize him now. He was taller than last time she had seen him; his hair was no longer white- it had reverted back to its original color the moment he lost his curse. He did not have the red pentacle or streak running down the left side of his face.

_Shit. I can't let myself get distracted._ He shook his head several times.

"It's nothing. I'm sorry as well. Enjoy your stay in Moscow."

Allen hurried on, leaving his love behind. He passed Lavi. God, how he missed him. There was Anna. He never really got to know her. There were also two others Allen did not recognize, and one had a seeing-eye dog.

He hurried up.

"_What the hell are you doing? Erase their minds! Lenalee will make the connection soon if you don't!"_ Atmintis yelled at Allen.

Erase: five minutes. Target: 600 square foot area. Allen thought to himself. He felt a surge of power come from him and everyone in the area slowly came to a stop, confused looks on their faces. He continued on, his target in sight. When he was almost to the bench where the person he needed lay, everyone resumed their activities.

He reached the bench and his inhabitant: a dark skinned homeless person who was taking the width of the bench. Allen stopped in front of the area where the man's head lay. He spoke.

"You have information of the whereabouts on Aitvi?"

The man blinked twice and sat up.

"And if I do?" he snorted and spat on the concrete beside him.

Allen's reply was to hold out a wad of rubles. The man greedily snatched it from the boy's hands.

"St. Basil's Cathedral," he quickly answered, not looking up from the money, as if it would disappear if it left his eyesight. "It's her favorite place to go. She practically lives there.

When there was no response, the man said again, "Hey! She's at St. Basil's Cathedral." He looked up, but Allen was gone.

--

**_Hey everybody! I hope you all liked it! Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it! Happy Boxing day, and happy holidays to everyone else!_**

**_Anywho, I don't really have much to say this time around. Thanks so much for all of your reviews last chapter, I hope you enjoy your break(s), and I hope you all choose to review! I mean, I'd love to strike up a conversation with you guys. It's always just so much fun :)_**

**_Oh! I changed all the chapter titles. What do you all think?_**

**_Anywhoozle, thanks again for sticking with me so far; I really, really appreciate it!_**

**_Oh, for you question of the week... what did you guys get for Christmas, and what was your favorite out of them all?_**

**_Talk to you soon!_**


	14. Sides

"_Remember, she's strong,"_Atmintis said.

_She caught me off guard last time. That, and I was already tired._Allen thought in reply.

"_So? You shouldn't be able to be caught off guard. Never underestimate you enemy!"_

_I heard you the last time._

"_And I'm just making sure you understand it, too. Remember, don't go getting yourself killed: I need this body too."_

_Will you shut up? It's my body. Always has been, always will be._

"_Want to bet?"_

_No._

Allen clenched his teeth, accompanied with his fists, as he ran towards the Cathedral. He blocked out the voice of Atmintis that, for the past year, had been constantly lecturing him, providing "advice" and tips; just plain being as downright annoying as a voice in the head could be.

_Timp, timp, timp._

The sound of his softer-soled shoes as they rhythmically beat against the street soothed his raw nerves. His dark red eyebrows knitted together, thinking as he passed the many inhabitants of Moscow. Shortly, he could see the topmost spire of the colorful cathedral, now nothing more than a dark silhouette in the night sky.

He sped up.

--

"No," was the stern, yet polite and cheerful answer.

"Why? She's too weak. She's going to lose," another man asked, clearly communicating the annoyance in his voice.

"I have confidence in her. She won't lose."

"But she's facing _him_."

Although the voice was calm, there was a clear edge of maliciousness that made the other occupant flinch. "_He_ isn't anything more than a pesky brat who doesn't know his place."

"Then why isn't he dead?" the other countered- there was a bit of contempt laced with the words.

Silence hung heavily through the air as the leader of the two contemplated his words.

"If he's so weak, he should be dead, right? If he's so weak, then you shouldn't have to worry about him," the voice pressed.

Silence replied again. Though, the more dominant of the two was starting to become edgier, but wasn't noticeable due to his seemingly permanent, oversized, wide grin.

The edge of a pair of lips curled up slightly. "If he's so weak, why did Tyki come back half dead?" He felt his point was being made.

The Earl growled slightly in disapproval, but said nothing. His ever-constant toothy grin seemed even less cheerful than just a second ago.

"Believe me. If you let me go, he'll be dead before you know it, and then you won't have to worry about anything anymore," the still obscure owner of the voice suggested as slyly as he could muster, which was very, very slyly.

The Earl's expression changed, his eyes now seething in anger. He rose to his full height and stepped closer to the speaker. "Are you implying that I am too weak to kill one pesky bug?"

The slightly crooked smile of the shadowed man was quickly dropped and replaced by a fearful expression. He slowly backed away, almost tasting the raw anger the Earl was giving off as he did so.

"N-no, Earl-sama," he stammered, being careful not to dig a deeper hole than he was already in.

"Then what did you mean by that?" The Earl spat out murderous words through a severely strained tone. His twisted expression of complete and total rage was incredible, but yet the creepy, unnerving grin stood unwavering.

"I-I only meant that I could save you some t-trouble and kill him for you," the man quickly answered as he slowly backed up another step.

The Earl's expression changed immediately, and was purely cheerful again.

"Oh, okay then! Thank you very much, Levrier-kun!" The Earl exclaimed gleefully and he put his hands together.

Levrier lifted a slightly shaking hand and smoothed back his hair. He let out a nervous sigh.

"Thank you, Earl-sama. I will be back within the hour."

He turned and started to leave. Behind him he heard the Earl chuckle. "That's the same thing Tyki said before he left."

--

A loud crash and a mushroom cloud of dust rising in the distance cut Lavi off mid-sentence as he talked about something that Lenalee wasn't paying attention to.

All six of them were sitting in a circle, be it on bed or floor, and were discussing what had happened inside one of the two hotel rooms they had.

Lenalee gasped as her eye activated. "Akuma," she breathed.

"Where?!" Lavi quickly asked as he jumped up.

"The Cathedral, over there!" She turned and pointed at a direction hidden by the bedroom wall.

Jinx stood up and growled. Nick and Nate wordlessly followed suit.

"Well what are we waiting for? I'll see you all there!" Anna said excitedly.

She threw open the only window in the room and jumped out, flying off as her Innocence instantly activated. Lenalee took off from the same route, followed by Jinx who landed on the ground two stories below with hardly a sound. He then sprinted after Anna. Lavi, Nick, and Nate had to go out through the front entrance. Their haste gathered a few annoyed glances from some of the patrons of the hotel, but they paid no heed.

Lenalee looked in front of her, and saw a brief flash of golden light. With one more jump into the air, she reached Anna just in time to see three souls peacefully floating up to heaven. Anna's gold and black wings glowed as she hovered in place, looking quite proud of herself.

"What took you so long? Party's over, missy." She grinned as her wings flapped.

Below her, she heard a short snarl, and two more souls floated up past her.

"Oh, looks like Jinx got those other ones," Anna commented, holding a finger to her chin as she looked downward.

She turned her attention to Lenalee, who was watching the souls disappear.

"So you can really see them? The souls of the Akuma?" Her hair blew slightly in a gust of wind.

"Yes…." Lenalee said, looking back down.

Underneath, Jinx trotted up to Lavi, Nick, and Nate, who were riding on the handle of Lavi's Innocence.

Lenalee and Anna dropped down to meet the rest of their party.

--

"Shit. Where are those Akuma I sent for?" A woman panted heavily as she leaned on her knees.

Atmintis stared at her with cold eyes.

"They're coming," he suddenly said, his eyes brightening ever so slightly.

The woman looked up and spat. "What?" she growled.

"They're coming. I wonder whose side they'll take. Yours, mine, or maybe neither?" he mused, half to himself, with a slight smile on his face. "I wonder how Lenalee is doing…. Oh, I hope she doesn't recognize us."

"What?" Aitvi growled again. She stood up to her full height. Her black hair flowed down to the small of her back. Green eyes stared vengefully at her opponent.

Atmintis turned to look in an off direction. He paused for a moment.

"Answer me!" she spat.

Atmintis turned back and stared at her, the cold look returning to his eyes. Aitvi narrowed her own in return.

A slim smile appeared at the corners of Atmintis' mouth, but the smile did not reach his eyes. "Our fate awaits us."

--

_**First off: as I'm sure you have realized by now, I changed the title of the story back to Two Halves, One Whole. Yes, back, but that was only for my previous story. I don't think all of you know that. If you think I should change it back to Dance With Me, then I will, but I really like Two Halves, One Whole better as a title.**_

_**Anyways, I hope you all had a fantastic holiday break, and hello everyone in the new year!!!!!**_

_**Other than that, I don't really have much to say. Oh wait, I do! MCutie drew another picture for me, this time of Noah Allen. I posted the link on my profile, and all of you have to go and check it out!**_

_**Anywho, thank all of you who reviewed so, so much. It really brings up my spirits and makes me happy and more willing to write when you all say such nice things.**_

_**Also, I wrote a oneshot in thirty minutes or so two days ago. This is phenomenal because I can never, ever finish writing a one shot. Believe me, I've tried. So yeah, big news. It's called "Forever," and of course it's a DGM fic. Allen and Lenalee, duh. Find it on my profile, read it, and review! It'll really make me happy if you do!!! :)**_

_**Alright, I think I'm done now. Bye everybody!**_


	15. Weakness

"Wait." Lenalee paused as her eye activated again.

Everyone turned to look.

"A Noah!" She hissed.

She turned around and took off, bounding through the night sky. Everyone wordlessly followed, saving their questions for later.

--

"Ah, here comes the first one." Atmintis smiled at the night sky. Aitvi stared angrily.

She tore her eyes off of him for a moment to look in the same direction he was. Then she saw the greenish glow speeding towards the sky towards them. Her feet moved automatically to take a few hesitant steps back.

The source of the green glow landed silently and swiftly on the no-man's land in between the two Noah.

Lenalee took a battle ready stance as she looked back and forth between the two. Her eyes widened as she saw Atmintis.

She raised her arm and pointed at him. "You're the one from today!"

Anna landed beside Lenalee as Jinx followed behind.

"The party just keeps getting bigger and bigger!" Atmintis laughed.

"They're the Noah?" Anna asked, taking a defensive stance as she looked between Aitvi and Atmintis.

Lenalee just nodded, distracted by Atmintis. Something about him seemed familiar; it was on the very tip of her tongue, but she couldn't place it.

Lavi jumped off the handle of his hammer, followed by Nick and Nate.

"Ah, looks like we're all here! Marvelous!" Atmintis clapped.

Aitvi clenched her hands. "DON'T TAUNT ME!" She screamed at Atmintis.

She ran at him, blowing right past the small group of battle-ready Exorcists. He stood unmoving, staring at her, his joyous eyes replaced by a cold, dead look.

"You cannot touch me." He said just as Aitvi was about to strike. He leaned over so his face was nearly touching hers, and looked straight into her eyes.

She froze immediately, the hatred and anger in her eyes replaced by fear.

"I know your weakness," he whispered.

She immediately unfroze and clutched her head. "No. No! Stay out of my head!" She stumbled back and fell to the ground.

Lenalee felt the air around her get heavy, almost depressing. It got hard to breathe. She had to force the air in and out. In and out… she repeated it in her head like a mantra. Her legs suddenly went weak, and she fell to her knees, succumbing to the oppressive force radiating from Atmintis. He was, without a doubt, a terrifying person.

Anna and Lavi fell next to Lenalee; Jinx whined and covered his face with his paws. Only Nick and Nate seemed unfazed.

Atmintis stepped forward. A wave of fear rolled over every person in the vicinity with each clap of foot that seemed to echo for forever.

Aitvi started mumbling as she squeezed her eyes shut and clichéd her head. "The pain. The pain. Oh, I remember the pain."

She frantically tried to remember what the Earl had told her. What had he said to counteract _his_ power? She couldn't think, the pain, she remembered the pain.

It dawned on her, and the pain was gone. Aitvi blinked twice, and stood up. Atmintis looked at Aitivi with surprise in his eyes.

"And you can no longer touch me." She blinked slowly.

And the fear subsided. The exorcists could breathe normally again. Strength returned to weakened limbs. And Lenalee stood up, looking at Aitvi.

Atmintis took a while to respond, only staring at his Noah enemy with dead eyes. Suddenly his eyes brightened as he smiled a laughed. "Damn, it seems like that won't work anymore," Atmintis grinned and sighed at the same time.

Anger flashed in Aitvi again. Was he underestimating her _again_? She clenched her fists tightly, and a crimson liquid started to pool around her fingers and drip off of her palm.

"Who…are you?" Lenalee said, not exactly to one specific Noah, but not to both at the same time.

Aitvi snapped her head to look at the exorcist. Her angry eyes gained a cunning look as she had an idea. The Noah seemed to know these people, so….

She grinned evilly at Atmintis. "I found your weakness," she said and dashed at Lenalee.

Allen's eyes went wide, "No!" He cried as he reached out.

He made an attempt to stop the charging Noah, but she was too far away. Lenalee was going to be hit by a fatal attack.

She just looked her fate in the eye, unable to do anything, still under after-effects of the oppressive atmosphere.

Aitvi was upon her, arm raised, ready to attack. Her nails darkened, and a crimson liquid seeped from under. Then suddenly, talons extended from her fingertips, coated with the glistening liquid.

The hand was brought down with bone crushing force, long nails radiating a deep crimson brilliance. They dug into a shoulder. Bones shattered; they continued to the heart, going through it, destroying it. Her hand continued through, nails ablaze. Through ribs, organs… it stopped just short of the other side.

A body, nearly split in two, hit the ground, scarlet blood pooling around it.

"NO!"

-(Flashback: several years earlier)-

"My dear, why do you cry so?"

Looking up from the corpse of her lover, Freya looked towards the source of the noise. Her tear-filled eyes quickly picked up the sight of the unusual owner, someone with a grin much too large for his face and pointed ears. If anything, this fat man reminded her of a demented Christmas elf, and one with intentions that she didn't doubt matched his unusual personality and were as large as the top hat he wore.

But she didn't care; Ayden was gone from her, now and forever.

She turned back to the bloody body, ignoring the newcomer much to his displeasure.

"What if I said that we could bring him back?" the man sly suggested, knowing that cases like these always ended with someone becoming an Akuma. It was always so sad to see a lover die.

Freya raised her head only a fraction of an inch, as if feigning interest. The fat man suggested he could bring the very person that brought life to her? But, no, it couldn't be true; she lived a hard life and knew a dream when she heard one. A dead person was always meant to be dead.

"Go away," she whispered, rubbing a hand on blood soaked cheeks.

"But my dear," the man tried to futilely reason, "don't you know who I am? I'm the Millennium Earl. I can bring back anybody if you wish it."

She turned to him. Even the Earl had been caught off guard just by how dead the girl's eyes appeared to be. Evidently, this young man had been the reason she needed to live, and due to an unfortunate accident, it had been taken away. Despite this, the Earl pressed on, not willing to give this one up. There was just something about this one...

The girl with blood-red hair, only darkened a deeper crimson by real blood, numbly shook her head. "I don't care."

The Earl looked into her dead, silver eyes, trying to find anything for leverage. He didn't understand why, but he had to take this one.

"Then, what do you want?" he tried to persuade. He was the Millennium Earl after all; he could give just about anything for this young lady to join his side.

Freya looked towards Ayden's face, his calm smile as he contently slept for the rest of eternity. She slowly reached out a hand to his hair, and gently ran her fingers through it.

"No," she whispered, but there was an edge to her voice; a malicious, bloodthirsty edge that would have made a lesser being suddenly quiver in fear. "Power… I want power. I want to make them suffer."

A tear filled with sorrow for the one she lost, and a penetrating anger for the world around her, rolled down the side of her face. She slowly stood, but as she did so, a pain unlike any other shot through her entire body. To a normal human, they might have writhed under it, but Freya blossomed in it. She didn't know what it was, but it made her feel stronger; it made her suddenly feel alive.

The Millennium Earl knew the pain he could sense just wafting off this girl. He sensed it every time one of _them_ suddenly appeared. Road was the first, and this girl just came after the new one named Tyki. But the raw hatred she was emanating... It was completely inhuman. No other living being, not even anything he could possibly create, seemed to compare to just how poisonous she felt to him.

"What are the odds of this?" the Earl chuckled to himself.

"I'll kill them all," was her deadly whisper.

--

_***sigh* I'm sorry. This really is and was a fail of a chapter. I'm sorry! I really wish I could write better…  
I'm sorry, some of you probably want to smack me for no self confidence… Oh well. I'm sorry :(  
Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter even if it sucks…  
Right now I'm reading the book Spice & Wolf. I think it's amazing. For your question, what's the best book you've ever read? Leave it in a review.  
I'll talk to you all later. Buh-byee.**_


	16. And I love you

Aitvi stepped back, satisfied with her kill for the moment. Lenalee shuddered and stumbled back, where Anna and Lavi caught her. Nate placed a hand on Lenalee's shoulder, comforting her as they saw the sight of Nick's dead body.

Jinx jumped over Nick's body, hairs brisling and a deep, ferocious growl emitting from his throat. His upper lip curled, showing fangs.

They glistened in the dim light.

Aitvi stepped back, eyeing the dog, as if unsure what to do. The Earl had not said anything about a dog. But then that must mean this was just some resident's dog, which also meant she wouldn't have any trouble killing it.

Aitvi smiled a cruel smile at Jinx who crouched low, fangs still bared.

Behind the dog, Nate removed his hand from Lenalee's shoulder and stepped back, looking at Aitvi with unchanging eyes. Lenalee slowly switched her support from Anna and Lavi to her own legs.

Aitvi stepped forward, cooing at Jinx. "Here doggy." She bent her knees some and patted them, "come here doggy. I won't hurt you." The claws on her hands retracted, so that she wouldn't spook the animal when it came.

Jinx's growl became fiercer. The previously barely visible glow on his back now radiated an emerald green. Aitvi took up a look of confusion and stood erect. Lenalee and party, minus Nick, just watched.

"You're not an," Aitvi pointed at Jinx, "exorcist, are you?"

Allen had stopped rushing, and just stood watching at a distance.

Jinx then seemed to grow, the green on his back glowing stunningly. He grew and grew until he was as tall as Allen at the shoulder. His grey fur stood on end as a black sheen overtook everything light on his body, making them look like they were all deadly sharp. His already massive canine teeth grew even more in size, to the point where they stuck out of his mouth, around his jaw, much like a Saber-tooth Tiger. A ripple went through Jinx's black, deadly-looking fur and he let out of ferocious growl that put off a fear that rivaled Atmintis' fearful power just moments ago.

Allen stared in amazement, staying silent.

Aitvi looked up at the growling beast, which now towered over her small frame. Her fierce green eyes stared at his black ones.

The crimson liquid dripped down Aitvi's hands again, solidifying on her fingertips. She raised her claws, eyes ablaze.

"Come."

Wolf and Noah charged each other.

--

Jinx lay on his side, shivering and bleeding. He was missing several teeth, and had numerous small cuts all over his body; his gray fur was matted and spotted with blood; there were four long, deep parallel cuts running along his side; his hind legs were bent at wrong angles from snapped bones; and his breath came in ragged gasps.

Away, Aitvi lay on the ground, a pool of blood around her. She had many bite marks covering her body, and several long gashes in numerous places. Her chest was slightly concave, as if her ribs had been smashed in, and her skin was so sliced it she was nearly unrecognizable.

Nate kneeled next to Jinx, and started rubbing him.

"Good boy. You did a great job fighting her," He said gently. The rest of the Exorcists stood around him and Allen watched from a distance as a green glow emanated from the back of Nate's right hand. All of Jinx's cuts and scrapes healed at an amazing rate. His teeth grew back in and the long gashes on his side sealed themselves up and disappeared. Torn fur grew back while his breath came out easier and his legs regained their rightful shape.

The glowing stopped, and Nate stood up. Jinx followed, completely healed of all his injuries. The only thing that suggested that he had previously been maimed were the matted patches of blood in his otherwise sleek fur..

The Exorcists all sighed in relief; Allen released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"What? Did you doubt my ability to patch him up?" Nate smiled. He turned to the body of Nick.

"And why are you still acting?"

Nick opened his eyes. He stood up from his puddle of hardening blood.

"Because it's so much easier to avoid fighting," he shook his arms and legs, sending a few drops of liquid blood flying off his exorcist uniform.

"And it doesn't get any easier to do that when you're supposed to be dead."

Nate raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"Although I would have protected you again had the need come," Nick added.

Allen still watched from the distance, amazed at the abilities of the new exorcists.

Lenalee bowed from the waist at Nick. "Thank you for protecting me. That must have hurt."

"It's fine. It didn't hurt as much as a bullet."

Lavi walked over to Aitvi and examined her. "You do some damage, Jinx." Jinx wagged his tail and barked happily.

"She's not dead, though," Lavi stated as he felt Aitvi's neck for a pulse, "But she's pretty damn close."

He stood up and wiped his bloody fingers on his coat.

Jinx stopped wagging his tail and advanced, growling. He was more than ready to finish her off.

"Wait." Allen stepped in front of the wolf.

Jinx jumped back and growled, all the while growing slightly larger. The rest of the exorcists took at battle ready stance, except for Lenalee. She just looked at him. Something about him seemed familiar. She had seen him before. She knew him. But she just couldn't place a finger on it.

Allen backed up with his hands slightly raised. "Hold on, I'm not your enemy. I'm against the Earl too."

"Then why are you trying to save her?" Lavi questioned, his eyes narrowed.

"Because she doesn't need to die." He walked over to the unconscious body and placed a hand on Aitvi's head.

"Stop! What are you doing?!" Anna cried out as she ran over and yanked his hand away.

He looked up at the girl and smiled. Lenalee saw that; something else she knew she had seen.

Who was this man?

"I'm erasing her memories. After this, the only thing she'll know how do is eat and speak."

He turned back and placed his left hand on her head. Nick and Nate crossed their arms and watched. Atmintis' hand glowed black, and Aitvi took in a quick gasp. The glowing ceased and Allen stood up.

He pointed at Nate. "Can you come heal her up? She won't be a problem anymore." When Nate silently complied, Allen smiled at him.

"Thank you."

"What is your name?" Lavi asked.

"Al-Atmintis." Allen said, almost slipping and saying his real name.

"Allen!" Lenalee cried. She had finally figured out who he was.

"What?" He turned towards the sound and immediately regretted it. His cover had just been blown sky-high, all thanks to his big mouth.

Lavi and Anna stared wide-eyed at him while Lenalee tackled him. He almost fell, but just barely managed to keep his footing at the last second. As he stood there Lenalee just hugged him tightly.

"Y-yes, Lenalee?" He looked down at the white haired girl.

"Sorry," She mumbled as she let go and stepped back. She looked at the ground near his feet. She suddenly remembered something and clenched her fists.

"W-what's wrong? Lenalee?" Allen cautiously inquired.

"Don't ever do that again!" she screamed as she slapped him in the face.

Allen stumbled back and held a hand to his red cheek.

"Wha-?" he asked confusedly.

"Do you have any idea how much I worried?" she yelled as she stomped toward him. She punched him in the gut, making him groan and double over.

"Gotten stronger…have you?" Allen laughed weakly as he clutched his stomach.

"Do you know how much I cried?" she kicked him without her boots activated.

"I worried about you and I missed you and now everybody hates you and…!"

Allen tensed up for another attack, but none came. He looked up and saw Lenalee holding her fist up, tears streaming out of her eyes.

Nobody dared to move.

"I… loved you. And you… left." She choked on her words.

Allen immediately stood up straight and hugged the weeping girl tightly. He held her body tightly against his and whispered only to her, "And I love you. I didn't want to leave. I was prepared to stay in that cell for all eternity, if it meant I would get everyone's trust back. But Atmintis took control and made me leave. He forced upon you my damned scar. I didn't want that. I'm…sorry."

Lenalee stayed quiet. Allen said nothing, and just continued holding the girl. After a moment, Lenalee shook her head slowly a couple of times and mumbled something.

Allen leaned closer, "What?"

Lenalee looked up, eyes red and puffy, though she no longer cried. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him. He, confused, kissed back happily.

She broke off and repeated what she said, "Don't do it again."

He smiled and agreed, holding her tightly.

--

Levrier walked out of Road's door some distance away. He saw the exorcists; in particular, the two holding each other. He looked nearby and saw Aitvi lying on the ground unconscious. Strangely, she did not look injured.

"What's going on?"

Shrugging it off, he picked a target out of the group, and charged forward swiftly and silently, going for the kill.

--

**_Hellooooo, everbody! I hoped you like the chapter! I feel Lenalee and Allen are probably OOC, and everyone is doing too much standing around, but I don't know how to fix that DX  
Warning! Excessive, excessive, massive amounts of sickening fluff next chapter. You've been warned! ;D _**

**_Anyways.... Leave a review if you liked it. I really appreciate them, and I always reply. I mean, who wants to review a story where the author doesn't do anything about it? So yeah, reviewing makes me very, very happy. _**

**_Thank you all for sticking with me this time. I really appreciate it. Especially if you review each and every time. It is just so amazing that you all do that.  
I'll shut up with the sappy now ^^;_**

**_Alright! That's pretty much it! Don't forget to go check out mah friend 's pictures, links in my profile! Thank you all for everything, and I'll see you next time in my next bipolar chapter! _**


	17. Don't leave me again

_**Alright, let me just start of with this warning message. THIS CHAPTER HOLDS EXTREME AMOUNT OF FLUFF! IF TOO MUCH MAKES YOU SICK, JUST GO AHEAD AND SKIP THIS CHAPTER. Oh, and note I said "Fluff" not "Lemon." No sex or anything, just mushy-mushy goo-goo. Yeah. xD READ ON IF YE DARE.**_

* * *

Allen had never been happier in his life. After a long and hard year, he had reunited with the one he loved. He was here holding her in his arms. To him, nothing else mattered. Her soft breathing drowned the rest of the world out, as did the feel of her body pressed against him. He closed his eyes as he held her.

That's why he didn't see it coming. That's why he couldn't stop it. That's why he didn't hear their voices, warning him.

Lenalee bumped into him slightly, and her grip around him tightened. She let in a startled gasp. He opened his eyes and looked down.

"Are you okay…?" The rest of the sentence was lost to oblivion as he stared at Lenalee. She had an arm sticking out of her back, blood dripping down her uniform.

_No…_

Her grip loosened, and Allen was the only thing keeping her up.

_No…!_

The hand removed itself from its bloody hole, carrying a strange shaped lump in its hand: her heart

_No!_

He suddenly felt fear, a deathly fear; a fear of losing his loved one; a fear of losing a piece of himself; a fear of that which was worse than death.

_No!_

Nobody could move, trapped in terror. All they could do is watch silently.

_No!_

He traced the arm back to his owner, and his rage flared inside him, charring his insides, turning him black inside.

_NO!_

"Levrier," he said in a low voice, rage silently empowering his words and adding a deadly edge to them.

A cool smile was all he got. "Hello, Mr. Walker. How's Ms. Lee?"

The flare inside turned into a roaring fire. Allen set Lenalee's body as gently on the ground as he could. His body burned with rage, and as he turned towards his new foe, he unleashed it full force. Every muscle in his body tightened, his hands clenched so tightly that blood welled around his fingers and dripped down his palm.

He crossed the gap between them, and with his right hand glowing black, seized Levrier by the neck, and lifted him into the air. Levrier responded by jabbing his left hand into Allen's chest, piercing his lung.

The vengeful Noah ignored it.

"How would you like to lose your happy memories?" Allen said coldly, the deadly edge in his voice tainted with blood lust. He felt his insides turn darker, and darker, and darker within the roaring flame of hatred.

From the back of his mind, Atmintis was amazed that Allen managed to draw on his Noah genes without switching place with him for control of the body.

"Ha! I have none," Levrier scoffed. He removed his hand, which was dripping with blood and stabbed again.

Allen's grip tightened around Levrier's neck. "Then when I am done with you, you will be nothing more than a shell of a human." Allen narrowed his eyes. The black glowing intensified. "…Haunted by every fear you have ever known, till the day you die!"

Allen's grip tightened again and Levrier let out a strangled gasp. Had he been a normal human his windpipe would have been crushed. He brought his hands up and tried to break free of Allen's grip. The glowing of Allen's hand became an aura that surrounded Levrier's head.

"You," he hissed through clenched teeth, "will not remember a thing about your family and friends. You will be a wondering lost soul, damned to Hell, forever haunted by your fears. Death will follow you wherever you go."

The aura disappeared and Allen dropped Levrier, who was out cold. Allen wanted to kill him, but that would have been too easy on the man. He wanted him to suffer.

Suddenly everyone could move again, and Nate rushed to Lenalee's side.

Allen numbly walked to Lenalee's body and collapsed to his hands and knees.

"Will she be alright? Can you heal her? Please tell me you can!" Allen begged.

"My Innocence doesn't really heal, so to speak," Nate said distractedly as he concentrated on Lenalee's wound, "but more of erases time. I can heal her, no matter how badly she's injured. The only thing is she can't be dead."

"But I thought she was…!"

Everybody was watching Nate as he healed the girl. "Basically, yes. Most of her was dead. But there was a little bit alive inside, and that gave me something to work with."

Allen stayed silent, allowing the boy to work.

Moments later he was done, and he sat back with a sigh. Everyone around him did the same, and a little cheer erupted.

"That's good," Allen sighed shakily. He was happy, yes, but he was still too afraid of losing his love, especially after having been reunited after so long.

He sighed again, and fell over, unconscious.

--

Flashback (several years ago)

"So, tell me dear; what is it you want the most?" the Millennium Earl asked the demoness standing in front of him, her back turned towards him.

The past couple minutes had been exciting to him. This 'Freya' had found her lover's murderers, and then proceeded to slaughter them in the most horrendous way possible. She didn't stop there though; her blood lust was so great that she moved onto anybody within the vicinity, easily ripping him or her apart. Now, the girl before him was merely a husk of her former self, a blood covered demon.

"What do I want the most?" she reiterated.

She turned, her ebony hair fanning out. Her golden eyes stared into the Earl's own, glimmering with hatred unlike any he had seen in a long time. Blood dripped from her fingertips, once belonging to a man now dead from his heart being ripped out.

Freya gave a dangerous look as she answered the question. "I want the world to burn."

The Early laughed amusedly. What a hateful young lady.

--

"…Len? Al…n. Ple…wa…k…p." Allen groaned and opened his silvery blue eyes. What met him was the worried face of Lenalee Lee hovering over him.

The moment she saw him awake, her worried expression melted into that of sheer happiness. She sat up straight so Allen could do the same.

He sat up in a hotel bed. Four small lamps scattered around the plain room gave off a soft glow. The wooden floors looked ancient and decrepit. The door off too his left was shut, and another door in the middle of the wall facing the foot of the bed joined the two rooms the Exorcists booked. Lenalee was the only other one in the room; he could hear the other's voices from the room adjacent.

Lenalee sat in a chair in front of the bed in which Allen lay, trying to sort out her thoughts. She gazed at the boy. He looked so different now. His hair was no longer white, as it had been. And his scar was gone. She possessed these features now. He used to be the short little bean sprout, but now he was taller than Kanda, surely!

She put her hand over her heart as she remembered that day. The memory still stabbed at her heart painfully. She wondered what would happen now. Would he stay, or would he leave? She didn't want him to leave again. It would be too painful.

"Lena…lee…?" She looked up, slightly startled, and found herself staring right into Allen's eyes. They also looked different, and they captivated her. All of a sudden, she found herself unable to think. She looked at Allen, trying to figure out what to say, what to do. Next thing she knew, he was crushing her in a hug. She happily melted into his arms, wrapping her own around his waist, relieved that he seemed okay.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" he said, mirroring her thoughts. She slightly increased the strength of her hug in response.

"This is the third time I've had to watch you die, unable to do anything," he murmured into her hair. "You have no idea how painful it is to lose someone you love so, so, so much." He pulled her back to arms length, looking at her with slightly teary eyes. Lenalee looked down.

"Yes, I do know," she mumbled, "you left me."

Allen's face instantly transformed into a mixture of pain, shame, and regret. He pulled her back into his arms to hide the tears he was afraid might escape his eyes.

"I am so sorry," he whispered.

After a pause, she hugged back again. "Just don't do it again," she told him.

"I won't," he promised. "I love you too much." Lenalee looked up at him.

"I love you too," she agreed, "so, so much!"

Allen gazed at her. She was so beautiful. He hated himself for having ever left her. His eyes met hers, and he was instantly lost in them. On impulse, he lifted his hand and put it on her cheek. It was soft, warm, and slightly moist from the few tears that had streamed from her eyes. He slowly leaned forward, tilting his head slightly to one side. She followed suit, and as their lips met, they both forgot everything that was ever wrong in the world, lost in their kiss, and their love for one another.

After a few minutes, they pulled apart.

"I missed you so much," Lenalee sighed. "I'm so happy to have you back."

"I'm sorry," Allen repeated. "I've regretted it for all of this time. What I've done to you is inexcusable." He looked down at his hands shamefacedly. This time, Lenalee gently cupped his face in her hands and brought it up to hers.

"You're back now, and that's all that matters," she comforted. "I love you. That will never change, no matter what happens." And then she leaned in and kissed him, sending them both into pure bliss.

Neither of them noticed when Lavi strode through the door and into the room. Smiling, the redheaded boy simply turned back around and walked right back out, chuckling to himself.

She broke and took a breath before smiling genuinely at him. He smiled back. She hugged him, and he hugged her. He leaned back onto the bed, and she followed.

"Does this mean we're a couple?" she sighed happily.

"I guess so. Do you want it to mean we're a couple?" He chuckled.

"Yes." There was no hesitation whatsoever.

"I do too."

A thought occurred to him, and he sat up. She followed. "You punch hard."

"Oh really?" she giggled.

"Yes, you do. And I think I deserve a little payback," he said slyly.

"Oh you do, huh?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

He poked her gently in the sides, and she squeaked. Realizing what she had done, Lenalee immediately went red to the face and covered her mouth. Allen stared at her, and started laughing. Her face got redder. His laughter died down some and he grew a mischievous smile. Seeing what was coming, she got a scared look and scooted away.

"Don't you dare…! EEP!" She squeaked again and jumped up as Allen poked her; she clutched her sides and glared at the laughing boy.

He stood up, still chuckling a little bit, and walked towards her. She moved to the other side of the bed. Allen followed and she jumped backwards onto the bed. He tackled her and started running his fingers up and down her sides. Lenalee started laughing immediately and tried to curl up into a protective ball to escape the tickling.

"No! Stop!" she giggled.

"Make me," he said smugly as he continued.

She kept laughing until tears started streaming out of her eyes.

"Stop….stop it…." She breathed weakly.

Finally Allen gave up, and sat down next to the panting Lenalee, laughing. The laughter died down, and the two looked at each other.

"I missed you." Lenalee said.

"I know. I missed you too."

"Don't leave me again."

"I won't."

"Good."

--

"Oh ho ho. Thank you, Allen Walker. You have made these two much stronger."

The Millennium Earl chuckled as he stood on the street next to Saint Basil's cathedral. In each of his arms he held the unconscious bodies of Levrier and Aitvi.

The dark sky was dotted with midnight stars. A sharp wind picked up, and his large coat flapped in the wind.

Surveying the battlefield once more, he turned and left through a heart shaped door.

--

**_Alright, I'll wait for you to all stop puking. _**

**_Done? Alrighty then!_**

**_Hope you liked the chapter. Yes, I'm aware that Allen and Lenalee were grotesquely out of character in that ending part, but I think it was still sweet._**

**_Anyways, next few chapters are going to be sort of down-ish chapters. And for those of you who read the first edition (bascially before I re booted it), hopefully you'll be happy to know that I've been adding quite a few things to chapters to make them longer. So yeah. Look forward to that? _**

**_Anywhoozle, I hope you liked the chapter, and pardon any mistakes that I made. While I try to be as perfect as possible with grammar and stuff, I know I made mistakes. Oh well. Also, please try to excuse any plotholes that fill the story, because I know there are a ton. And great, now you're all going to try go to look for them, right? Oh well xP_**

**_Anybody notice that FFN got a new logo? Look at the top left, and the little logo thing is different. Just sometimes I noticed today. (which is yesterday from when I'm going to post this. I suppose I could simply say Friday xP)_**

**_la, la, la, la, la. It's hailing here! It's interesting, because you hardly get wet because it's just ice that bounces off of you xP_**

**_I'll shut up now._**

**_Bye, everybody! See you all next week! Leave a review if you feel like being nice!_**


	18. Why are you here?

Allen stared out the window of his cabin as the train sped along. The sun was rising ever higher in the mid-morning sun. Lenalee shifted slightly and Allen looked down at the girl. She was still sleeping, clutching his arm, and using his shoulder as a pillow. She had refused to let go of him since he had woken up that morning.

There was no way he was going to leave again. He could not bear to injure her a second time.

Sitting next to Lenalee was Nick, who had changed out from his bloody clothes. Across from him sat Nate, wearing sunglasses, and Lavi, who gazed out of the window. Jinx lay in front of the door, in between Nick and Nate. Anna sat in between Nate and Lavi, snoring slightly.

Lavi looked at Allen, and then at the sleeping girl next to him. He spoke up. "Allen."

Allen looked up from gazing at Lenalee. Nick and Nate didn't respond, but listened in.

"Yes?"

Lavi looked at him with a strange look in his eyes. "Do not hurt her."

"I won't. Not like that, never again."

"I don't think you understand how severely you hurt her. She cried to two weeks straight, and refused to come out of her room for four. We had to break down the door to get her to eat, and if we went any further than a few feet into the room she would kick us out with Dark Boots." He had a pained tone in his voice.

"I…know." Allen looked down, shame and regret etched in his expression.

"No you don't. I care for her, but like a sister. I cannot stand to see her in so much pain." Lavi narrowed his eyes at him.

"I do know what she went through! You think that I was completely unaffected after leaving like that? You have no idea how much I wanted to come back, but by the time I regained control over my body, it had been several days. Can you imagine what it would have been like if I chose to come back after that? Besides, I got a glimpse of her memories last night. You don't even know the half of how bad she felt, whereas I do, and I was the cause of that." Allen's brow creased as the memories resurfaced again.

"Can you imagine how I feel right now? I have seen her die in front of my very eyes three times. All of which I was unable to do anything. I left her in the mud, crying, with this god damned curse." He paused to breathe. "I love her so much, and I was the one that caused her the most pain. You have absolutely no idea how painful this is to me. I'm having a hard time even showing my face around her, and it's almost impossible to believe that she forgives me after that," Allen looked down at Lenalee.

"I don't deserve to be forgiven. But I _am_ showing my face, and I _am_ sticking around, not for you, not for the order, not even for the world! But for Lenalee, and Lenalee only." Allen stroked her snow white hair. She unconsciously clutched his arm tighter.

Lavi did not speak, content with Allen's speech.

They rode the rest of the way back in silence.

--

"Brother." Komui looked up from his mountain of papers. Lenalee was standing just inside his office, as if there was something by the door she didn't want to leave.

His eyes went wide with surprise. He stood up. "Lenalee! Why are you back so early? Why didn't you call?"

Komui started walking towards his sister, but stopped when she backed up a step, as if trying to stay away.

"We…found the perpetrator," Lenalee said, avoiding eyes with her older brother.

Komui was unsure of what was wrong with his sister. "Are you okay, Lenalee? Who is it? Where is he?" Komui just now noticed that Lenalee's left hand was hidden behind the door frame.

"He's…right here." And with that, Lenalee stepped back, and allowed Allen to step into the room from around the corner. In his right hand he held Lenalee's left.

"Hello, Komui. It's been awhile," Allen smiled and bowed slightly.

Komui, after recognizing the boy, clenched his fists. "Why are you here?" he asked, a murderous tone in his voice. Rage filled his being and it showed in his eyes.

"Why the hell did you come back?!"

The smile fell off his face as Allen stood up and stared into Komui's angry eyes with his own defiant ones. "Lenalee" he clutched Lenalee's hand tighter.

Komui was taken aback for a moment. "What did you say?" And the rage was back. "Do you know what you did to her?" he spat out through clenched teeth. Lenalee was looking at the floor in front of her. At her brother's words, she tightened her grip on Allen's hand.

"I know perfectly well what I did. And while I will be making it up to her for as long as I live, I have no intention of apologizing to you."

"I cannot accept anyone who hurts Lenalee at all!" Komui snarled.

"B-brother! He's apologized so many times already to me and I--" Lenalee was cut off by Komui's words.

"Get out, Allen," Komui ordered, his tone wasn't as fierce and sharp as it was moments before. "Just get out of my office. And Lenalee, you should stay away from him if you know what's good for you."

Allen wordlessly turned and left the room with Lenalee in tow. She sadly looked back over her shoulder at her brother who was still standing in the same place, fists clenched and staring at the floor.

--

"I wonder what Komui's reaction was," Anna asked rhetorically as she held her hand up to the lights on the ceiling, peering through the gaps between her fingers.

She, Lavi and Jinx were in the scarcely occupied cafeteria, on a few benches far to the side of the room. Anna lay on one, and Lavi sat on another as he threw a ball across the room for Jinx to fetch.

Lavi took the ball from Jinx's mouth and chucked it to the other side of the room, where it almost hit a small group of finders who were enjoying a late breakfast. They glared at the red headed Exorcist for almost interrupting their breakfast.

Jinx trotted back over to Lavi and deposited the ball in the waiting Exorcist's hand. He wagged his tail faintly. Lavi chucked it back across the room, almost hitting the disturbed finders again.

"I don't know, but it probably wasn't a good one," Lavi noted as he absentmindedly watched the wolf track down the bouncing ball.

--

"I can't believe Komui acted like that!" Lenalee fumed as she walked back and forth in front of Allen.

She and the boy were in her room; Allen was sitting on her bed in the warmth of the sunlight that was streaming in through her open window.

Outside, Allen could hear the waves of the ocean as they broke against the costal rocks, the seagulls as they cried for one another, and the faint sound of metal clashing against metal.

"It's not that big of a deal," he said as he watched the girl pace angrily.

"I guess." Lenalee sighed and plopped down next to Allen on the bed. She turned to him and smiled.

"Confused by the new place, right?" she giggled.

"Well, it is…different," Allen admitted as he looked out of the window at the sea that was glistening like thousands of tiny diamonds in the sunlight.

"We moved here about a half a year ago," Lenalee looked around her room, "But even so, some of us are still getting lost," She smiled.

"Really?" he laughed.

"Yeah!"

"Oh, I just remembered something," Lenalee added in a slightly more serious tone. She stood up and walked over to her desk. From one of the top drawers she produced a small box.

"And that is…?" Allen inquired.

"I'm not sure if you can even use it again or if you even want it, but…" Lenalee quietly told him as she opened the box.

Allen took in a sharp breath quietly. Inside laid a golden cube. His Innocence. The edges looked rough and worn away, as if there was some missing.

"I found this in your cell, attached to your…arm. But that crumbled into dust shortly after."

Allen picked up the cube gingerly. It radiated a golden light at its master's touch.

"Does anybody know you have this?" he asked without looking away from the glowing cube, mesmerized by its shine.

"No. Nobody knows, not even my brother," she answered, watching him examine the Innocence.

Allen let out a breath of a laugh. "Thank you, Lenalee."

She smiled back at the boy. "You're welcome."

"So what do you suggest I do with it? How should I activate it?" he asked, pondering the ways to do so.

"I don't know. But when I got my Innocence back, I drank it," she recollected the event more than a year ago with the first Level Four they encountered.

Allen did just that. He made a bow with his hands, with the Innocence sitting inside it. It then melted into a creamy liquid. Without second thought, the boy brought his hands to his lips and downed the Innocence in one go.

Lenalee watched, waiting for what she expected to happen.

Allen just sat there, unsure of what he should do.

He turned to Lenalee, about to ask what to do next, when his left arm started tingling. He held it perpendicular to his body, waiting for what he expected to happen.

A cross shape cut appeared on the back of his left hand, and blood burst out of it. The blood drew together, and formed a giant maroon cross standing up straight on his hand. Allen stared at the cross made of his blood. He then rolled his sleeve up past his shoulder.

The cross swayed, and fell against his exposed arm. It then melted and oozed all over his arm up to his shoulder, covering it with its maroon color. Then at last it solidified, turning a dark reddish black.

Allen looked at his arm that was now covered in Innocence. He smiled. "And now I'm truly complete."

--

**_OH MY GOD I JUST REALIZED NOW, AT 11:28 PM that I forgot to update!!! I'm so sorry you guys! And then to top it off I couldn't upload any documents because the uploader was being stupid. I ended up just overwriting the content of one of the documents already on file. It's not going to change anything (I hope) so yeah. _**

**_Ugh_**

**_Anyways, It started snowing again today. Right now I'm at my friends house because it's his birthday._**

**_Anyways I don't really have any time to do a big author's rant because I'm about to play Halo in a 7 player system link game. I'll see you all next week, and again I'm so sory!_**


	19. Walker is our Fate

"Earl-sama," A young female voice whined, "I'm bored. Play with me!"

"I'm sorry, Ava-chan! I can't! I'm doing research!" The Earl apologized.

"Aw..." The blond girl pouted. She looked up at the ladder in which the earl was standing, looking for a book high up on the shelved that filled the room.

She turned around and walked towards the tall door frame slowly, taking very heavy steps.

"Now, now, Ava. Don't be like that." The smiling Earl said from his perch with a loving tone.

"Hmph." She crossed her arms and turned her back towards the Millennium Earl. Her pigtails swing around as she turned.

She paused for a split second, before grinning. "Road!" She jumped towards the door and tackled the Oldest Noah by the next.

"Ava!" Road grinned back at the girl that was clutching her neck.

"How'd you know it was me?" Road quizzed.

"Your steps are prettier than others. They made a really nice sound." Ava said happily.

Road giggled, and Ava let go of the girl's neck, sliding to the floor.

"So if I go like this...?" Road spun around on one foot like a ballerina, with her arms locked perpendicular to her body.

Ava grinned and clapped. The girl had the appearance of a mere elementary girl; she couldn't have been more than eight years old before her human self had died. Her blond hair was pulled back into two pigtails, not unlike the Doll's hair had been, Road had noted when she first met Ava.

Road stopped spinning and smiled at the small girl. Ava had just recently become one of them, found by the Millennium Earl.

"Come on," Road reached for Ava's hand, "Let's go bother Tyki."

–

A soft breeze danced into the room through the window, the curtains waving to the birds outside. A warm sunlight streamed in from the open window placing a golden box of warmth on the ground at their feet and illuminating the dust particles in the air, causing for a shimmering wall of light. Seagulls sang in harmony with the song of the sea, the crash of the waves against the rocky shore.

The door shut for some privacy, a boy and a girl sat on a tidy bed, holding each other. One with snow white silky hair, pressed against the other's muscular chest. Thin, sinewy arms wrapped around the boy in a hug, and thick, hard arms wrapped around the girl in return. Allen and Lenalee both sighed in unison, glad for the momentary peace and quiet with each other.

Lenalee was nodding off, so content in the clutch of her partner.

"Ah, Lenalee." Allen said, suddenly, disrupting the dozing girl.

"Yes, Allen-kun?" She looked up, blinking sleep from her eyes.

"I don't really want to ruin the mood, but..." the rest of Allen's sentence was lost due to the angry growling of his grouchy stomach.

Lenalee laughed, and stood up. Allen stood up with a sigh; they headed down towards the cafeteria.

--

Jerry was ecstatic with the return of Allen. He cooked up such a storm that pretty soon Allen had a pile of food sitting in front of him that even he wasn't sure he'd be able to finish. Lenalee just laughed at her lover's happy, anticipating expression over all of the food he had been given.

Allen hardly waited before he dived into the plate closest to him. About halfway through the plate, he turned to Lenalee with a mouth very completely stuffed with food.

Swallowing it, he asked, "Want some?" as he pushed a plate towards her.

She laughed, "No thank you. Enjoy!"

That was all the confirmation that he needed. He immediately turned back to his half empty plate and dug right back in.

It took the ravenous boy no time at all to take a hefty chunk out of his mountain of food, and shortly after that, he was done.

Lenalee was still amazed at the speeds that the boy could eat, as by the time he had finished thirty-odd dishes piled of food, she had only eaten one.

"So," Allen sighed happily as he turned back to Lenalee, "Where to next?"

--

"Do you think we can take him?"

"I don't know if we can trust him. This kind of mission will be taking a huge risk." Komui leaned on the doorway. He and Reever watched Lenalee and Allen converse happily from across the room.

"Why not? He was prophesied as the 'Destroyer of Time,' the one who would defeat the Earl." Reever crossed his arms as her leaned on the wall of the hallway and looked through the door. He glanced up at the head supervisor.

The Australian could easily tell that his boss was troubled with the decision. Allen Walker had the potential to make their victory a landslide, but at the same time he had to potential to destroy them once and for all. The fact that the exorcist has disappeared for a year did not help those standings.

"I...don't know. I don't trust him, to be honest with you." The head supervisor narrowed his eyes at the white haired exorcist on the other side of the large room. Lenalee said something unheard by the two observers, and the two teens laughed.

"But his firepower is something we could use. Actually, this might not be possible without his help. I can see where you're coming from, but I can't really distrust the guy. I mean, in the two years I've known him, excluding this past one, he's been an incredible help to the Order. He's risked his life for us so many times." Reever turned to Komui. "And remember the Level four incident? He charged right in there with only the help of Bookman, knowing there would be no backup. He almost died then, too."

"I know! I want to trust him! I want to be able to rely on him!" Komui raised his voice as he stood up straight off the door frame.

"But do you have any idea how hard it is for me? To make the decision that could potentially wipe out humanity? Allen Walker is our fate. He and he alone will decide whether or not we survive this war." Komui clenched his hands and teeth. "And I don't like it one bit."

With that, Komui turned and walked in the direction of his office. Reever watched him go, not moving from his spot on the wall. Just as the Supervisor was about to turn the corner, he let out a small, shrill, little girl-like shriek and recoiled. From the joining hallway appeared Bridget Fay, Komui's central-assigned secretary.

"Supervisor, please return to your office. You have a pile of unsigned papers on your desk." She said curtly. In her hand was a closed folder.

"Sorry! I'm out on my inspection rounds!" Komui Lee yelled over his shoulder as he sprinted as fast as he could in the opposite direction, back past Reever, who just watched him go.

Bridget sighed as she straightened her uniform, and proceeded after the fleeing supervisor. As she passed Reever, she said, "Please return to your duties as well, science department head chief."

"Lunch break," He replied and he rolled off the wall and through the open door.

--

"Ah! Reever-san!" Allen perked up at the sight of the Australian man.

"Hey, Allen! Long time no see," Reever smiled, mentally laughing at the fact that no matter how Allen Walker changed in appearance, he would still always be the cheerful little gentleman inside.

"Yeah…" Allen trailed off. "So how have you been? Has Komui killed any of the people from the science department?"

"Tired, overworked, the usual," Reever laughed and rubbed the back of his head. He looked behind him; out of the corner of his eyes watched Bridget Fay "Hmph" at him, and walk away.

"Hey, mind if I sit down?"

"Go ahead, Reever-san," Both Allen and Lenalee said at the same time.

"Thanks," Reever swung his legs over the bench on the opposite side of the table from Allen and sat down. "Now as for Komui's deadly inventions…"

"Komui now has an assistant," Lenalee said very to-the-pointedly.

"He _what_?!" Allen cried. "That can't be good."

Lenalee and Reever let out weak, forced laughter. "You don't know the half of it."

"He actually has an innocence, but it's non-combat."

"Yeah, according to him, events of other things of the future sometimes get written down in his book, though nobody can ever understand the characters that appear there."

"The most annoying this about his Innocence is that he knows full well the outcome of one of his and Komui's inventions. He knows it, and that just drives him to complete it faster due to his very, very destructive personality," Reever cringed.

"Ouch. That probably can't be good for this building," Allen said, looking around at the cafeteria. Now that he actually looked, there did look like there were numerous spots where the wall was a different color, as if there had been holes or cracks that needed to be patched.

"Or good for the humans, either," Lenalee said.

"Yeah, those two have started building things that even Lenalee has a hard time taking out," Reever shivered.

"The last one they built I had to get Kanda to help slice for me," Lenalee sighed.

"Is that even possible, building something that Lenalee can't break?" Allen asked in amazement.

"The kid is a genius, and it's not too far-fetched to say he's the smartest person in the country. And then you combine his incredibly destructive personality and Komui and you have a truly fearsome duo."

"I'll bet," Allen laughed weakly.

"Alright, I'd probably get back to working before Komui's new secretary has my hide," Reever sighed, standing up.

"Alright then, Reever-san," Allen said in reply, standing up as well.

"It's been nice talking to you," Reever held out his hand"

"And to you as well," Allen took the hand and shook it.

"Alright, see ya, Allen," Reever waved and headed towards the door.

"Bye, Reever-san!" Allen and Lenalee both said loud enough for him to hear.

* * *

**_Wow. We got two feet of snow here! It goes almost up to my waist!_**

**_In OTHER news... I hate siting here, watching my sister play Spyro. I want to tell her what to do, how to do it, and other such things and I get aggrivated when she messes up. But if I do it for her she'll never get better *sigh*_**

**_Moving on._**

**_I've been writing another story!!! I'll post the first chapter later today. It's a story, not a oneshot, but I don't plan on continuing iwht it any time soon. How much people like it decides on how quickly I'm going to start writing it..._**

**_Ah well, whatever. I'm kinda in deep doodoo because I'm getting closer and closer to chapter 24, which is all I've written up to. You guys may have to wait a week or two per chapter at that point... sorry! Until then, though, I'll be updating weekly :)_**

**_Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I can't wait to talk to you who are kind enough to review!!_**

**_bye!!!_**

**_Tired...so tired..._**


	20. Ticket to our success

Word of Allen's return spread like wildfire throughout the Order. The younger finders would run throughout the hallways, informing every living creature they saw of the miraculous return of an ally. Those who were new wanted to see the fabled dropout, and the older wanted the see their old friend.

And the next thing Allen knew, the medium-sized cafeteria was crowded like an ant farm, with people pushing and shoving, desperate to touch, to see the bewildered Allen.

The crowd was mixed in conversations.

"Hey, is that him? I thought they said his hair was white?"

"So he's the traitor, huh?"

"Are all those plates his?"

"Hey, he looks unsure what to do!"

"Do you think he sees me?"

"Why did he leave?"

"Think he's taken? He's pretty hot!"

Allen was being pushed back closer to the wall, with a crowd of finders and exorcists alike slowly devouring his space. Lenalee just laughed at his seemingly joking, yet pleading look for escape.

"Lenalee....help!" He had to shout to get himself heard

"But they want to say hello, Allen!"

And that was when he was dragged into the middle of the group, and his sight of Lenalee disappeared. Hands were everywhere, desperate to touch just a single piece of the famous, yet infamous, exorcist.

"I...yes....hello...nice to meet...sorry...wait...." Allen struggled to answer everyone and escape the montage of hands and voices.

"I have to get out...Lenalee! Please, let me through." Allen tried to move people out of his way gently, but soon found that that failed. He quickly resorted to pushing his way out, desperate to get a glimpse of Lenalee again.

Just as he was nearing the edge of the crowd, time seemed to slow down around him. The people with waving, outstretched arms were moving in slow motion. Allen turned his head to look around, slowed by the weight of time. He slowed to a stop. His thoughts were a normal speed, but everything else, including his actions, were slowed.

_Huh...?_ He thought as he blinked slowly.

Then suddenly he heard a voice inside his head. _"Back away!"_

Atmintis wasn't screaming at him.

_Ba-Thump._

Agonizing pain. Torment washed over him like a tidal wave, and his movements were freed. Allen screamed and clutched his head as he fell to his knees. The crowd was apparently freed as well, as they gasped and stepped back as they say the boy screaming in pain on the ground.

_Ba-Thump._

Roaring pain, screaming at him. Like two fires were battling to the death inside his body. He felt something inside his lungs, and started to cough uncontrollably. Something oozed out of his mouth as he tasted iron and salt.

Blood.

_Ba-Thump._

Allen coughed up more blood; it now covered his entire chin and drizzled down his neck, soaking into his new black and red.

"Someone! Medic!" A voice called from the crowd.

_Ba-Thump._

The beats were coming faster, as was the pain. His body no longer could hold him upright, and he collapsed to the floor. His eyes stared unfocused on the foot of the person nearest to him. Time was slowing down again, and Allen's sight was slowly being taken over by darkness. His ears hardly heard the loud cries and screams of the people around him.

"...Len! Allen!" He heard Lenalee's panicked voice crying out to him. He sensed that there were hands on him, comforting him, but he could not feel them.

_Ba-Thump._

_What...is happening? _Allen thought numbly as another wave of pain swept the consciousness from him.

--

Sliver eyes opened to a dim ceiling. A low, constant beeping noise drilled on in the background.

"Ah good. You're awake."

"Huh...?" Allen moaned. "Where am I? What happened?"

He could feel the comfortably padded bed underneath him, with a small pillow propping his head up. He turned his head to see the intimidating Head Matron staring down at him.

She pressed her cool palm against his forehead and quickly took it away.

"No fever. Alright, you can go. Komui needs you in his office."

"Uh, okay..." Allen was confused. He had passed out in the middle of a crowd, just woken up in the medical ward, and now he was being sent to Komui. He winced some at the memory of their last encounter.

--

_What the hell happened, Mint?_

"_What the hell do you think happened?" _Atmintis snapped back at Allen as the boy slowly walked towards Komui's jungle of an office.

Allen suppressed the sudden urge to hurl the contents of his stomach. He paused for a moment and bent over, supporting his weight with his hands on his knees. _I don't have a clue. Why did you scream, and who were you screaming at?_

Atmintis sighed. _Your Innocence._

Allen was taken aback. _"Crown Clown? What are you talking about?"_

Atmintis sighed again. He hoped it was only because the boy was still weak, because Allen was being incredibly dull. _"How exactly did you expect your Innocence was going to react to having Noah Genes in you?"_

_Oh… _The truth hit Allen rather painfully.

"_It's nothing you can't fix. All you have to do it talk to it and convince it I'm not the enemy. Otherwise Crown Clown will destroy you, trying to destroy me."_

--

"Why do you think I called you here, Allen Walker?" Komui leaned on his desk, arms crossed.

"To...lecture me some more?" Allen asked hesitantly. He did not want to get further on the man's bad side for if he did, the chances of him ever getting together peacefully with Lenalee were near zero.

"No." Komui sighed as he stood up and walked back around to the other side of the desk and sat down in the chair. He then leaned forward as he put his elbows on the table and clasped his hands in front of his face.

"We are launching a raid against the Earl."

"What? You don't have enough Exorcists!" Allen cried out.

"We have gotten quite a few more since you have last been here. Including you, we have fourteen exorcists, all very capable of either battle or aid."

"What about the generals?"

"Adding the generals, we have seventeen."

"Wait...Shouldn't there be eighteen?"

"General Cross went missing shortly after you left. The mask that covered his face was cracked and left behind in a pool of blood, along with Judgment." Komui's eyes narrowed at the thought.

"And before you ask, Hevlaska already confirmed that Cross was no longer the wielder of the Innocence Judgment."

"That's...not possible. My master is invincible, no matter how stubborn he may be." Allen shook his head, refusing to believe what Komui was telling him.

"Well it did happen. And we lost a major fighting force." Komui said pointedly. He did not need the boy depressed, but he needed to get his point across more.

"Now, with just the Exorcists here, I do not believe we can do this, unless you help. I think that your fighting power is already greater than that of Cross. You helping with this mission could be the ticket to our success."

"Of course I will hel-"

"And I NEED you to promise me that you will. Not. Hurt anyone. I am having a hard time asking you this already. Do. Not. Endanger anyone on this mission, or I swear to God I will hurt you." Komui stood up, leaning on the table as his voice became almost frantic as he started to yell at Allen.

"Of course, I will not let anyone die." Allen coolly looked Komui straight in the eyes. "Who do you think I am?"

"Sometimes I don't even know." Komui responded, his voice low again as he sat back down heavily in his chair, not looking at Allen.

"Anyways, we're done here. You can go do whatever now." Komui sighed, again not looking at Allen.

The 14th Noah quietly got up and left.

--

_You really caused a big problem for me._

"_Hey, I was a little loony from being asleep for so long."_

Silence greeted Atmintis. The Noah was slightly surprised that the boy still held resentment for leaving. Even after a year, Allen still was still holding a grudge against him for making them leave the Order. Even though he actually managed to apologize.

Allen sighed and lied down on his bed.

"_Look…I'm sorry. I know I screwed up a lot of things for you."_

_Whatever, it's fine._ Allen honestly thought that. Indeed, he was full of remorse, but he was a man full of forgiveness.

"_Did you notice that Anna is a Noah as well?" _Atmintis asked, suddenly changing subjects.

_She is?!_ Allen said, unable to hide the surprise in his thoughts.

"_Yeah, she is. If you pay attention, I'm sure you'll be able to feel it."_

Sure enough, Allen could defiantly feel that tugging sensation that drew him to another of his kin.

_Alright, let's go check it out._

_--_

"_Shit!"_

_What?_ Ann's sudden outburst startled Anna. The timid, happy girl had been engrossed in a book when her Noah counterpart shouted out.

"_He's coming."_

_Who is?_

"_Allen, or whatever his name is. The Noah."_

Anna marked her page and closed her book. She then took it and put it into the top drawer in her desk. When there was a small, polite knock on her door, she jumped what felt like a foot in the air. Due to Ann's urgency, she half expected her door to be smashed down.

Anna hurried over to her door and opened it a crack.

"Hello?"

"Hello. This is Anna, right?"

"Yes, it is. Can I help you?"

"Not particularly. I just wanted to ask you a question or two," Allen smiled kindly at the girl.

This also caught Anna off guard. Not only did she expect to have a broken door by now, she also assumed that Allen would be demanding entrance. But he didn't. He just stood there, waiting patiently to be invited in.

"Come in, come in," Anna opened the door all the way.

Allen walked in and examined the room. It was strange, he felt oddly familiar with the girl, as if he had known her forever.

"_That would be your Noah genes talking."_

"Anna-san, can I talk to your Noah?"

Anna froze up. How did he know? She kept it a secret from everyone else at the Order for so long. How did he figure it out so quickly?

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone your secret," He smiled.

Anna let out a shaky breath, and felt Ann emerge.

"_Watch out… I'll handle him," _Ann said to Anna as they switched control.

The girl's expression went from a nervous one to a sneer as her skin darkened and seven black stigmata appeared on her forehead.

"What the hell do you want?" She scoffed.

"Hello, Noah-san. Do you have a name Atmintis and I can address you as?" Allen asked, ever so polite. Much to Ann's surprise, Walker even gave a slight bow as he looked at her with a cool smile.

"Just call me Ann."

"Well, Ann-san, Atmintis wanted to have a talk."

With that Allen fell backwards into his mind and let Atmintis step up to the plate. Walker's skin darkened and seven black stigmata formed on his forehead. His eyes became black with yellow irises.

"Good evening, Ann-chan," Atmintis smiled.

--

_**Ugh, I'm getting closer and closer to the end of my buffer… And what's worse is that I've been doing virtually no writing in the past week or so. *sigh* Oh well, I've actually started to draw a bit!**_

_**Anyways, here's a super-early release! (hey, it's 1:17AM at the time of writing this, so it's technically Saturday!)**_

_**On another note…I've found out that I'm overly lovey-dovey for a guy. I'm always flipping out over relationships and stuff. Like I've been watching Lovely Complex for the past couple of days, and yeah. Also I keep hoping for the two main characters in the Wii game Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of a New World would get together already. And then there's my huge obsession with Allen and Lenalee being together…. Meh, whatever. My lovey-doveyness is something that defines me, and something that I'm not gonna change!**_

_**Oh! I wrote the first chapter of another story a little while ago. I'm not currently working on it, but if enough people want me to continue I'll try. I would really appreciate it if you would go check it out and leave a review telling me what you think. Many of you know already, but I respond to every single review I get. I enjoy talking to the people who read my story :) Anyways, the title of it is Unreal Realities (how do you like it? I thought it was pretty clever myself xD)**_

_***sigh* I've been talking for too long. And you know what? I'm not going to backspace from this moment on. So now you can see all the many typos I have. Wait, I'm typing in work so itd sprobably correcting everything I screw up With. Ugh, I have to force myself to notpress backspace, and I screw up a lot! Especially since I chgsnge my mind halfway through what I'm typing …. Oh well.**_

_**Sorry about the incredibly long author's rant! Thanks again for reading the current chapter and I hope you enoyed it. Whoops, meanyt Enjoyed. Oh, er, Ah, well, hope you come back! Next time! Whoops. Ugh, sooooo mannnyyyy tyyypppoooossss**_

_**Bye!**_


	21. Icarus Nolan, Noah of Greed

Sky-blue, silvery eyes opened to a stony ceiling. Warm sunlight filtered in through the partially opened window, allowing cool ocean air to waltz in.

Allen sighed without moving from his spot. He willed his left hand up and to rest the back of it against his forehead as he looked at the ceiling, not willing to get up and start the day.

The brown haired boy looked over at the small clock on the table across from him.

It read 10:15. Not thinking much of it, he turned his head back and closed his eyes once more.

_"It started at 10,"_ a voice interrupted his relaxation.

Allen's eyes snapped back open as he threw himself out of bed. He yanked his drawer open and hastily threw on wrinkled clothes. He looked in the small mirror at head's height and quickly patted down his messed up hair.

"I'm late!" Allen almost yelled out.

He quickly pulled on socks and frantically yanked up his boots. No second later, he was out the door in a fast jog.

--

Sure enough, there were eighteen exorcists adorning various pieces of furniture or occupying floor space in Komui's office when Allen finally burst through the doors, out of breath. Komui looked as if he had stopped mid sentence. He narrowed his eyes for just a split second before his expression was back to its serious tone.

Allen, though, still caught the small glare.

Lenalee looked towards him with a relieved smile. For a second, she almost thought that something was wrong.

Those heads who turned to look at the entrant then returned their attention back to Komui.

The head chief then continued his speech. "Now, while this mission is considered a raid, I, under no circumstances, want to hear of any casualties. I want the nineteen of you here to return back here when we are done."

Allen straightened up and leaned against the back wall.

"Now, the destination of attack is the Earl's castle in Edo-"

"The Earl Isn't in Edo anymore." Allen cut off Komui.

Nineteen heads turned to look at the boy.

"After the incident one year ago, when Chaoji joined us... The Earl left that castle."

"And where would he have gone? If you remember correctly, we destroyed the egg, and you still have the will of the 14Th. The Earl cannot use his Arc," Komui stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Do you think I don't know that?" Allen narrowed his eyes at Komui. "What do you think I've been doing for the past year?"

"No one cares, stupid Bean Sprout," Kanda said, putting in his two cents from across the room.

"Shut it, girly-man!" Allen shot back.

"Allen, would you please just tell us what you know?" Froi requested nicely, interrupting the argument before it could go full-swing.

"Yes, I would be interested in hearing what you have to say," Bookman said, ever-present pipe hanging out from his mouth.

Allen took a deep breath as he surveyed the small crowd. Komui didn't seem to like the fact that Allen was intruding, but at the same time he looked interested. Walker looked back at Lenalee, still a little regretful of what he had allowed Atmintis to do to the girl that time.

"The Earl does have a new castle. But It's in South Africa." The entire group seemed to lean closer. "I've been tracking the Earl and Noah down for the past year, and as far as I know, they are still at the castle."

"And how do you suppose we get to this castle?" Lavi questioned, casually leaning his head on his hand.

"I've been inside. I should be able to make a gate to there. The only problem is that by doing so, it would be alerting the entire place of our intrusion."

"And how do we know that you're not just leading us into a trap? Playing us right into the Earl's hands? How do we know that you haven't switched sides?" Komui stabbed at Allen verbally.

"WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?!" Allen screamed at the older man.

The entire group of people leaned back from the Exorcist's rage. Allen strode over to Komui and stood so close their noses almost touched as he looked the director directly in the pseudo-Noah's voice took on a quiet, colder tone.

"I told you once already that I would not endanger my friends. And I am SORRY that your damn sister-complex is causing you to hate me for something I had no control over."

"Allen..." Lenalee started, but Lavi held her back and shook his head.

"And I am SORRY that Lenalee got hurt. I think I care about her more than you would think. And I am SORRY that you cannot trust me, because you've already said it. I'm the final link here." The corners of Allen's hard-pressed mouth twitched up and he took a step back.

Komui let out a breath he was unknowingly holding, but his death glare at Allen did not falter. Yes, the boy had grown much more intimidating in a years time.

"Now, we can either continue down this path of hate, and trust me, you don't want that; or we can forgive each other, and move on." Allen moved his face in a little closer as he started to say his final words in the matter. "So which will it be, Head Supervisor?"

--

"If I remember correctly, the door should be about half a mile that way." Allen pointed down a road with his free hand. In his left he grasped Lenalee's right. They were currently in the Arc, heading towards the Earl's castle.

The Destroyer of Time turned around to face the eighteen people following him. "But the Earl should be expecting us. When I unlock the door from the Piano Room, you need to get in there fast. No doubt there will already be countless enemies there."

"A-alright." Chaoji said hesitantly.

"I will meet you all inside the castle." Allen smiled reassuringly.

"Alright!" Some of the Exorcists shouted and everyone ran off in the direction Allen had pointed out. He then turned to Lenalee once everyone else had left.

"So, care to join me?" Allen smiled.

"Of course! If only to be with you." Lenalee smiled back.

--

"Is that the door? It's glowing!" Anna asked to no one in particular.

"Well, you might as well try it," Marie suggested.

Lavi reached out and turned the handle.

"Careful, Lavi," Bookman said.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. What's the worst that could-" Lavi opened the door, only to be greeted by a speedy punch to the face. He flew back through the air and was caught by Krory.

"L-lavi!" Krory cried as the young bookman was out cold.

In the open doorway stood a Caucasian boy of medium height. His hair was cropped short and was a wavy chocolate brown. He was dressed in a pale white trench coat, along with pants in the matching shade. He looked like he was no older than Allen and in his left hand he held a dark wood cane.

His striking silver eyes quickly scanned each and every one of the fifteen battle-ready humans, and the one wolf who was growling at him.

"Hello. I'm sorry for the flashy entrance, as it is not usually my style. I would prefer to be quick and silent with my kills. But you see, the Earl wants you dead. And I'm afraid that killing each one of you like that would actually take longer. So..."

The rest of the young man's speech was cut off as Lenalee kicked him back through the open door. Allen, too, ran out through a door he had created from the Piano Room.

Looking back through the wide door to the castle, a little blonde girl who looked not a day older than eight ducked under a flying Noah. She scowled as she turned and watched as the person slammed into the wall, cracking it with the force he was carried by.

The duo was standing a brightly lit room with marbled floors. There were two doorways on either side of the room.

"Hey!" She yelled at the slightly dazed Noah as he plopped onto the floor. "Watch where you're going!"

"Sheesh, they didn't even let me introduce myself," he grumbled as he stood back up and brushed himself off.

The male Noah cleared his throat, turning his sights onto the exorcists at the doorway. "Now, before we continue, my name is Icarus Nolan, Noah of Greed."

"I'm Ava!" The little girl bounced up and down, waving her arms.

Jinx pounded through the door, lunging straight for Icarus. Following his example, the rest of the group rushed through the open door, swarming the small room –the unconscious Lavi was still inside the Arc along with Nate and Froi.

"Wo-ow! There are a lot of people, Icarus!" Ava turned towards her partner.

"Yeah, there are. Think we can take them on?" he questioned, a smile playing at his lips.

Jinx was hovering midair, snapping and growling as he aimed to get at the Noah holding him. The wolf seemed to be suspended by a dark mass surrounding his torso.

"Of course! But even if we can't, somehow, we always have back up!" She grinned.

Kanda drew Mugen, while Gectse summoned Beat's Claw.

"Lets go ahead," Kanda said as he ran off towards the door, wordlessly followed by Gectse, Zokalo and Timothy.

"Hey, Ava! Let Lulu Bell and Aitvi have some fun. Let them go," Icarus suggested with a grin.

"Ugh, fine." The little girl pouted.

A thin, white spear then came and shaved the girls shoulder, drawing blood.

"Let Jinx go!" Allen yelled.

Icarus wasn't given time to reply as Lenalee drove her heel into his chest. He flew back through the air and crashed into the wall behind him. The already weakened wall fell on top the Noah, covering him in debris; all the while, the dark mass dissipated as Jinx dropped to the floor.

"That, HURT!" Ava screamed as she was suddenly in front of Allen, fist hitting him in the chest and knocking the breath out of him. He was pushed back a distance from her small fist.

Lau Jimin screeched as he came up next to Ava and sent her flying with a spinning kick. She hit a wall and slumped to the ground. Cloud Nyne looked towards the pile of debris; Icarus also seemed to be down for the count.

"That was way too easy," Cloud Nyne said with suspicion.

"It doesn't matter. We don't need all of us here," Allen said. "Cloud, Chaoji, Bookman, Marie, Krory and Anna, could you all head down that corridor? It will split. Head down the left side." Allen pointed to one hallway, heading the opposite way that Kanda and his group had gone.

They obliged, and that left Allen, Lenalee, Nick, Nate, Matt, Lavi (who had just woken up), Froi, Jinx, and Miranda.

"Nick, Froi, Lavi, Jinx, and Miranda, could you head down the right passage in that corridor?" Allen asked again.

Allen, Lenalee, Nate, and Matt were to fight the two Noah. But Matt only had future sight, and Nate was a healer.

"Nate, be sure to stay with Matt. Komui says you do not have a fighting Innocence; is that true?" Allen asked the boy. He was probably fourteen years of age.

"Yes, sir. My Innocence can predict the future," Matt said humbly as he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"Alright. Nate, make sure he doesn't get killed," Allen looked at Nate and motioned with his head towards Matt.

Allen started to draw his sword when there was suddenly a intense killing intent saturated into air; it was so fierce that it made him stop mid-motion in fear. Lenalee, Nate, and Matt followed his example. Walker looked at where Ava was. Her skin was dark grey, the seven stigmata showing on her forehead. Her pupils had contracted, and rage rolled off of her in waves.

"Oh SH-" Allen was cut off as Ava disappeared and reappeared in front of him, punching him once more in the gut. Only this time the area she hit burst into flames.

Lenalee cried out and dashed at the girl. But Ava was faster, and disappeared right as Lenalee was about to kick. In the middle of the air, Lenalee felt something on her back, and the wind around her began the cut her into her skin. When she landed, she already had hundreds of tiny cuts on her body.

Allen threw up all over himself and the floor, because of being punched. Thankfully the vomit put out the flames, but he remained dazed. He hadn't faced this enemy before; Ava was not here when Allen was in the castle last.

He saw Lenalee, bloody and staggering, as Nate rushed to help her.

"Nate! Protect Matt!" Allen cried as he saw Ava go for the unprotected boy. Allen drew his sword and threw it with all his might at Ava. She easily side-stepped it, but it gave Allen enough time to reach the fleeing Matt.

Allen spared a precious moment to glance over at Lenalee. She seemed to be healed, thanks to Nate.

Ava shuddered. Rage still seethed from the young child like an awakened volcano.

Lenalee was back in the game, and she rushed Ava. She got a hit, and Ava went through the hard wall. Feeling slightly accomplished, Lenalee paused for a moment and smiled at Allen, who smiled back.

But the feeling was short lived, as Ava stepped back out through the small hole she had created.

And then real terror struck. It came in waves, freezing even Ava. One could almost taste the utter fear in the air. The killing intent was calm, yet fiercely dangerous.

Allen forced himself to turn his head and look. Icarus had awoken, seven stigmata on his forehead.

_"Tag out,"_Allen heard Atmintis order.

_"Don't hurt my friends,"_ he replied mentally.

_"I won't."_

Allen felt himself being taken over by darkness.

Atmintis was in control.

--

_**Hello, everybody! And by everybody I mean the three of you who still read my story! :D**_

_**Ah, well, nothing that can be helped by that. I'm fully aware of how grotesque my first few chapters were, and the beginning title and description weren't the best… so yeah. Oh well! I'm glad that the few of you who still review have kept with me for so long. It really makes me happy :3**_

_**I guess I'll just say to go read my other story, Unreal Realities, but I think the only people who see this thing already have. If any of you care in the slightest, I think I'll be updating that on the 7**__**th **__**and the 21**__**st**__** of whatever month I'm in. So basically it'll be more or less bi-weekly. Whatever. Mleh.**_

_**So I've started to keep up with a journal… it really helps me sort through my thoughts during hard times. And believe me, there have been some pretty hard times lately. Well, I guess we'll, or I, because nobody is going NEAR those files, see where it leads in the future.**_

_**Remember how I said last week that I started drawing? Well, I did, though I suck so I have no confidence and thus I've kinda stopped. *sigh* Just like writing! I mean, for the past month or two I haven't felt like writing at all. Well, It might just be that I'm bored of this story, because I've technically been sticking with it for… lesse… 24 chapters before and now I'm on 21…. Well, 45 chapters, and I'm not getting resounding support from people. Don't get me wrong, I'm REALLY happy with the few of you who review, because it means to me that there are people who really do like my story. It's just when I compare mine to ones like "For Tea" by allPod or "Moments of Love" by aStLg101 with 300 reviews for 20 chapters…. *sigh* *feels self confidence drop like lead in water* Rawr.**_

_**On top of that, I've been in an incredibly bad mood these past couple of days. I think it's because I'm tired and my shoulder has been killing me for reasons I'm not yet aware of. *Sigh***_

_**But I'm going to stop complaining about my life now. This isn't the place for that, and this is an incredibly long A/N anyways. IT's practically more of a Blog…. Sorry everyone!!!**_

_**Thank you all so much for reading my story, and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!! I'm not going to bother asking to review, because I know some of you will review anyways, and everyone else will just downright ignore me. Oh well :P**_

_**Ciaossu everybody!**_


	22. Ava Dzekunova, Noah of Harmony

Kanda stopped dead in his tracks as he spun around, whipping Mugen outward and pointing it forward. Those following him also stopped, and turned to face an unseen enemy.

"W-what's that?" Timothy asked.

Zokalo grunted as he came from behind. "It's a pretty damn strong killing intent."

"But it's from no one around here." Kanda lowered his sword, his eyes still looking for an unseen opponent, though. "I think it must be those two that Bean Sprout and Lenalee are facing.

"Well I'm glad I'm not facing them." Timothy breathed a sigh of relief. "But you act as if you know...Allen, I think his name was?"

Kanda snorted. "Yea, the stupid Bean Sprout came to the Order almost three years ago. But something came up and he left last year. He's been gone since yesterday, when Lenalee's team found him in Moscow."

Kanda spun around and began sprinting forward, only to see Zokalo already a distance away from them.

"Che," Kanda muttered as he sheathed Mugen. No sooner was he off following the general.

--  
"Lenalee, are you okay?" Atmintis asked as Allen's sword snapped up from its position some yards away and landed in its master's open hand.

"You're not Allen." Lenalee narrowed her eyes. "You're _him."_

Atmintis winced slightly at her tone, but nonetheless took up a fighting stance against the two approaching Noah. "I'm sorry, but we don't have time to fight over this right now. We will settle this matter later. Deal?"

"...Alright," Lenalee agreed almost reluctantly.

"Can I trust you to take her on?" Atmintis half-asked, half-ordered as he motioned with his head towards Ava.

"Leave her to me."

Lenalee narrowed her eyes at Ava and launched herself forward. Her heel hit Ava in the chest, who in return grabbed the Exorcist by her foot and flung her into an undamaged wall.

Atmintis, satisfied with his presumption that Lenalee could hold the younger girl off, faced his opponent. The sword stung his palm, so he turned it back into Allen's left arm. He opened and closed his hand, flexing his arm, making sure everything worked correctly. Sometimes things didn't reconnect correctly when Atmintis cancelled Allen's invocation.

Icarus Nolan bent his neck to loosen it, and then brushed off his dusty coat. He then looked at Atmintis, with a questioning look in his eye, raising an eyebrow at the change of demeanor Allen underwent.

"You're not the same boy I was fighting with just now," Icarus noted in a tone that was a mixture of a question and a statement.

"Correct. How'd you know?" Atmintis haughtily smiled at his opponent.

"You're eyes are different colors. Also, you have a different air about you."

"Well, you're correct. Now, shall we get this over with?" Atmintis solidified his stance as he stared Icarus down. Atmintis' skin became grey and seven black stigmata appeared on his forehead.

"In fact, you seem to be one of us," Icarus continued to note, smirking as he too took a fighting stance.

"Correct again," Atmintis smiled as he seemingly teleported behind Icarus and punched lightning fast. But before his fist could connect, a blobby black mass came between Atmintis and Icarus' back.

"Wow, you seem pretty strong," Icarus laughed without turning around. There was a deadly cold tone lacing the laughter.

"I can say the same about you, you know," Atmintis smirked again.

He backed away from both Icarus and the surrounding walls and took another stance, this one more defensive. This Icarus was no doubt a dangerous opponent; it wouldn't do to get caught without a chance to fight back.

"So shall we start?" Icarus turned and faced Atmintis, getting ready to strike.

--

Ava stomped forward with menace in her pupil-less eyes. Fire completely engulfed her right arm, as did water around her left. The air around her seemed to be blowing upwards, as her blond pigtails floated on the air. Each one of her footsteps caused the ground surrounding her foot to crack and spider web, leaving a small trail of destruction behind the girl.

Lenalee was honestly scared. Not only was her small opponent impossibly strong, but she also had now idea how to defeat her adversary.

Suddenly the Noah clasped her two hands together, and a hissing sound of steam was produced. The wind blew strong, and a huge cloud of gray steam shot towards the escaping Lenalee. Though the Exorcist had quick reflexes, the steam was too fast and too large for her to dodge, and she soon found herself trapped inside the swirling cloud of evaporated water. She felt her skin burn as the hot steam swirled around her; her clothes were instantly soaked, and any breath she took resulted in her coating her lungs with water. Lenalee fell to the ground, willing herself to breathe as what little air she could receive as possible. She clenched her eyes shut, ignoring the pain of the scalding steam, and made a dive in a random direction.

What surprised the exorcist, however, was that the water that had collected on her clothes, weighing her down much more than it should have. Lenalee found this out as she slammed into the ground only a few feet away. She kept her eyes closed, for if she opened them, the steam would instantly burn the tender exposed flesh. The exorcist held her sleeve over her mouth and took in a small wisp of air. To her relief, her makeshift gas mask worked to some extent. She took in a larger breath, still careful not to move her hand from her mouth, and stumbled forward. She had to figure out a way to get out of the steam before she died.

--

"What's the matter? You aim sucks," Atmintis laughed as Icarus struck for the air next to his shoulder.

Icarus' face twisted into a snarl for a split second before melting into a smile, albeit, a very fake looking smile.

"Wow, you sure are hard to hit," Icarus forced though clenched teeth in a cheery, sarcastic tone, as he struck for Atmintis again, only to miss and swipe the air next to the boy.

"Yeah, it's almost as if you're forgetting where I'm standing," Atmintis smiled just before he jumped forward and struck Icarus in the gut with a strong punch, causing him to double over.

"I would have to agree with you on that. But," Icarus took a strong hold of Atmintis' hand, "if you can't move, you don't suppose I could forget, now do you?"

A lance appeared out of the shadow behind Icarus and shot straight through Atmintis' right shoulder.

Atmintis gasped as he drew back from Icarus, clutching his shoulder. Blood oozed down from beneath his hand. Icarus seized the moment to pull the handle off of his cane, revealing a sword. He then dashed forward and slashed at Atmintis, causing numerous cuts and gashes to appear on his body.

"Time to finish this," Icarus smirked as he thrust his sword straight through the side of Atmintis' neck.

--

Lenalee curled up on the ground, thoughts and plans swarming through her head. With each plan to get out, there was a pitfall. She couldn't figure out what to do, and her time was running out. She was beginning to stop feeling even the pain on her body, showing the burns were getting worse and worse. She curled up tighter to reduce that of her body that could be touched and drew in a small breath of humid air.

Yes, her time was definitely running out.

--

_What do I do? What do I do?_Nate sat on the ground next to Matt, clutching his head and shaking it back and forth. _I want to do something, but I'll die if I get hit! But if I don't do anything, Lenalee will die!_

Matt just looked at his partner sympathetically, unsure as to what he could do. Then something lit up in his eyes as get got an idea. "Nate, look at me," Matt ordered. Nate obliged and looked at his friend with red, teary eyes.

"What?"

Matt was slightly hesitant, as he knew he wasn't a fast runner. "I'm going to go run and get Nick. Can you stay put for a little while?" He asked Nate slowly. If Nate, the vulnerable healer couldn't do anything, than maybe the invincible Nick could.

When Nate nodded, Matt picked up his Innocence and ran down the corridor, hoping that Nick hadn't gone far.

--

_**HOLY CRAP I AM SO SORRY YOU GUYS! Yesterday I had to take this 8-hour long class so I can get a job as a referee for soccer, so I didn't get back until 5 pm. Then I was just so tired I completely forgot all about the update until now! I'm so sorry!**_

_**I'm also sorry for my little breakdown/rant last time. But thank you so much for all of you that reviewed. You have no idea how happy it made me to see so many people caring…**_

_**Anyways, please review again and I hope you liked this chapter. I'll see you next week!**_


	23. Struggles

Lenalee stood up wearily on her legs. She could feel all of the strength leaving her; her entire body was severely burned from the scalding steam. With one last effort, she jumped with all of her might straight up. She felt the cloud pull her down, but her force was soon too much for even the Noah's attack, and she burst through the top of the steam cloud. Lenalee thankfully drew in several gulps of hot air, but she didn't mind. At least she could breathe normally.

Her relief was short-lived, however, as a hand formed from the cloud of steam and grabbed her ankle, pulling her back inside quickly. Once back in, an invisible force threw her to the ground where she slammed her head. Dazed and confused, she stayed in place on the ground, now hopeless. Everything she tried failed, and her time was ending.

Giving up, she sighed, not minding the water that coated her lungs, and looked at her hand lying next to her head. _Looks like I will not be able to keep my promise to him... _She thought with grim reluctance. _I am sorry, Allen... _She closed her eyes and gave one last sigh. It looked like her time was up.

--

Icarus Nolan looked down at his defeated adversary. Blood dripped down from the hole in Atmintis' throat as lifeless eyes stared at nothing and yet everything at once. His face was twisted into an expression of pain and agony. Icarus closed his eyes and willed the image of the boy from his mind. No good to let images of those you've killed haunt you. He sighed and opened his eyes and, without looking down, promptly stepped over the body. He had all confidence in Ava, but why not go watch his Sister's fight? He sheathed his cane sword and started towards the giant cloud of gray steam on the other side of the large room.

He didn't even take two steps where a hand appeared on his shoulder. He stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes went wide at the feel of it. He spun around, whipping his sword back out and nearly dropping it at the sight. No amount of training and self-discipline could prepare him for what he saw.

--

Anna led her small group of people at a quick trot. Everyone was on the edge, as they had yet to see any other form of life down their passageway.

"Wait," Marie ordered, his hand up next to his ear as is head was perked towards the direction they were going. "Something's coming..."

Everyone stopped dead in his or her tracks, looking for an attack from everywhere.

There was a slight pattering of steps and the sound of a bell ringing from up ahead. Everyone whipped around and faced the noise, expecting anything. They were surprised, however, when a small black cat with a bell on its collar pranced toward them. The cat walked until it was only a few meters from Anna before sitting down and staring at them, piercing each and everyone of them with its feline eyes.

"Heaven's Compass!" Hundreds of needles appeared in the air around the mysterious black cat and shot directly towards the feline. Just before the Innocence it it's target, the cat cracked a deadly grin.

--

Froi and Lavi led their own small party, continuing cautiously, looking everywhere around them for any would-be foes. Sure that there was no one around, Lavi nodded to Froi and they all started to jog. They needed to accomplish their mission as quickly as possible. The fast they did it, the less of a chance that someone would be attacked or killed.

Not even thirty seconds into their run, Jinx barked viciously and rammed Lavi from behind, causing the teen to buckle and fall. Less than a second later, a hand sipped through the air, right where Lavi's head would have been.

"Ow…Dammit, Jinx, what's gotten into you?" Lavi whined as he rubbed his knees where he had landed. Jinx wasn't listening, however; he was crouched down low and growling at what looked like the wall.

"Jinx, are you alright?" Froi asked, but nonetheless put up his guard, scanning the hallway for anything that might set off the wolf.

"Nice instincts ya got there, exorcist," A voice laughed as Tyki Mikk stepped out of the wall.

"Tyki!" Lavi cried as he jumped up and grabbed his hammer, activating it. Miranda quickly stepped back behind her three companions, out of the line-of-fire.

"Yep, that's me. But I'm not alone. I think you might know him," Tyki grinned, and motioned with his head down the other side of the Exorcists, further down the hallway.

Cautiously, Lavi turned his head and gasped. Froi did the same.

"You…!"

--

Icarus stared down the arm that grasped his shoulder, unable to move. Attached to the arm was Atmintis, looking just as pale, lifeless, and mauled as he had a few seconds before.

"I-I killed you!" Icarus stuttered as he tried to jerk his body away from Atmintis, but the Noah's grip held firm. He was always appalled by the part of him that feared so easily. How could he be the Earl's best assassin if he was so easily cowered by fear?

"Oh, so this is how you remember me, huh?" Atmintis' lifeless eyes turned towards his open free hand, covered in blood. Icarus couldn't keep his eyes away from the gaping, bleeding hole in his opponent's throat.

Without a doubt, Atmintis should be dead. Why wasn't he?

Seemingly content with his image, Atmintis smirked and dropped his hand, settling his eerie, dead eyes straight on Icarus.

"What's wrong," he asked. "Aren't you a powerful assassin? Getting shaken up over such a…trivial image?" Atmintis laughed evilly as his grip on Icarus' shoulder tightened considerably.

Icarus clenched his teeth and closed his eyes as he forced the image from his head.

"Ah, ah, ah," Atmintis frowned disapprovingly as he set his index finger on Icarus' forehead. The memory of "dead" Atmintis flooded his mind, the look of the lifeless eyes staring into the abyss, the smell of blood, the squishing sound the blood made on the floor when Icarus stepped in it. The assassin almost hurled on the spot.

Then something flashed in Icarus' eyes. Instantly the image was gone, and he broke free of Atmintis' grasp. In one swift move he unsheathed his sword and pointed the tip directly at Atmintis' face. He could not afford to lose to this simple enemy.

The Assassin was relieved when he saw Atmintis' eerie appearance shatter to reveal a grey-skinned Atmintis with seven stigmata on his forehead. The mentioned Noah looked down at his hands, and seeing that his appearance was back to normal, smirked and looked at Icarus. The assassin was still pointing his sword at Atmintis.

"Nice trick there. You're only the second to break out of that," Atmintis laughed, "but what about this?" Atmintis' voice took on a more serious tone as he stopped moving.

Icarus froze, ready from any attack that might come from his Noah opponent.

The white-cloaked assassin stayed in that position for a few moments, watching the completely unmoving Atmintis with caution.

Then, using pure instinct, Icarus deftly whipped his sword around him, just for Atmintis to catch the swinging blade between his hands. Icarus was almost puzzled over Atmintis' ability for such teleportation, but he then remembered his opponent was a Noah.

Atmintis sighed, "You are a tough opponent."

Icarus gave a flash of a half-smile "You are as well."

Atmintis dropped Icarus' sword and jumped back. It was time to finish this.

--

The Exorcist watched, amazed, as the black cat flipped out of the way of impending doom and landed as a gray-skinned woman with seven stigmata on her forehead. She stood there very formally, much akin to the way Komui's secretary Bridget Fay stood.

"Lulu Bell…" Bookman's face twisted into a frown. The last time he had seen the female Noah, she had brought with her hundreds of Akuma on a raid of the Head Quarters. The night so many comrades died, the night where he almost lost his life.

"Good day. I believe that I have forgotten your name. Might I inquire to what it was again?"

"Bookman," was the gruff reply.

"Ah yes, Bookman. You were with Allen Walker that night weren't you? I'm so sorry that I did not do a good job of killing you. Allow that mistake to be fixed," The Noah stated in a monotonous voice.

Bookman narrowed his eyes as he and the rest in his party whipped around looking for threats.

The Noah just smiled as she laughed at the exorcists in her mind. They would never know what hit them.

"_Anna, the poison Noah that Jinx fought is nearby. My guess is that she's using an aerial-based poison that the Noah are immune to. You might want to do something to clear the air,"_ Ann's voice rang through Anna's head.

"Tch," Anna mumbled as a blinding golden light radiated from her back and a torrential wind ravaged the hallway, catching both Noah and Exorcists off-guard.

"You can come out now, Aitvi," Anna called out down the hallways. Most likely Aitvi would be behind Lulu Bell, as Marie would have heard anyone following them.

Lulu Bell fought to remain her empty expression as Anna called out to the other Noah. She was so far away, and her presence was so well hidden that even the one with the headphones couldn't detect her! How on earth did this girl…?

"What was that for, Anna?" Cloud Nyne asked, as Lau Jimin screeched from the General's shoulder for being disrupted.

"There is a Noah who uses poison further down, and was most likely filling this air with something lethal. So I blew it away," Anna said smugly, directing her words at the Noah in front of her, as if saying 'Just try.'

Lulu Bell snarled, and mentally called for her partner. Within seconds, Aitvi was standing next to Lulu Bell, an eerily blank expression on her face.

"Didn't Allen swipe your memories?" Anna questioned.

When Aitvi did not respond, or even change expressions, Lulu Bell answered for her. "Oh, he did. Now she cannot think or feel. She has no emotions, she forgot how to feel pain, and the only think she does is take orders, and she takes them very, very well."

Aitvi soon unchanging, staring straight ahead.

"_Damn, that turned out to be the wrong thing to do." _Ann cursed inside Anna's head.

_Well, stay on the ready. I might need your help, but I'd prefer to refrain from showing you. It is amazing that we've managed to keep our secret for so long,_ Anna replied mentally.

"Kill them," said Lulu Bell

"_You know Allen knows, well, Atmintis knows who we are, right? And get ready, she's coming."_

_I'm aware of that. And I know, I got-_ the thought was cut off as Aitvi almost stabbed Anna with a poison claw at super fast speeds. The quivering claw was barely held at bay as Ann held it still with two hands.

"_Thanks! I would've gotten killed if you didn't jump in."_ Anna signed mentally from the sidelines.

_Hey, if you die, I die to, you know._ Ann thought as she was in control of their body.

"G-get off of Anna-san!" Chaoji yelled as he grabbed Aitvi's arm and, Innocence glowing bright, threw the Noah some twenty feet back.

"_Let me get control again, please."_

_Alright._ Ann thought as she felt herself drifting backwards while Anna drifted forwards to control.

"Everyone get ready, she's fast, obviously," Anna commanded her small party.

"These two are defiantly going down in the 'books,'" Bookman murmured.

"Be careful of any more gas she may emit," Marie cautioned as he activated his Innocence.

"I got the gas covered," Anna half-laughed.

"These Noah are going down before anyone gets hurt, okay?" Cloud said in a worried, yet fierce tone.

"Prepare to die," Lulu Bell smiled maliciously.

"I will punish you, for Anita-sama!" Chaoji cried out, in a tone that hinted that he was not so sure of himself.

Krory looked nervous, but nonetheless activated his Innocence.

"_Let the battle begin."_ Ann thought grimly.

--

The heat disappeared. She could breathe normally. The scorching pain that she was starting to get used to disappeared. Had she died? No, she could hear grunting, and the sound of something burning.

And suddenly relief washed over her. The pain went away, and she started feeling better, and better.

"It's going to be alright. Are you okay?" She heard someone asking her.

"I'm…fine," she blinked and took in a grateful breath of cool, sweet air.

The air was not exactly cold, and it was riddled with the stench of burning flesh, but to her, it was heaven.

She said up numbly, still in a sort of daze, but was relieved to find out that it did not burn to move any more. She turned her head and smiled at Nate.

"Thank you," She said, mixing her words into a relieved sigh.

A body hit the ground next to her, burned, charred, and cut up beyond recognition. Right before her eyes, she saw the body heal itself at an unbelievable rate. Nick sat up as his body continued to heal itself and spat out some dirt in his mouth.

"Oh good, you're out," He frowned with pain and rolled his neck. He turned his head, stood up and tackled someone. Or tried to. He was engulfed in torrential flame in mid-air. After the flame had stopped, and a burnt-black body started falling to the ground, his foe picked up her right leg and kicked the remains of Nick at an incredible speed, sending the body through the last remaining untouched wall.

Moments later, Nick stood back up from the other side of the wall, completely healed. The only problem was that his clothes were all but burnt away. Just a smoking tatter of cloth was barely clinging on to his waist, shielding him from indecency. But only barely.

She turned her head and saw Ava stomping towards Nick, apparently oblivious to the two of them.

Lenalee remembered suddenly what she had been doing. And now she was back in the game.

--

_**Uh-oh. This is my last chapter. Well, I had one more, but I mashed these two together so it would be longer. They were both kind of short, obviously.**_

**_Alright, I'm just going to come out at say it, because I personally think this is the better choice for me. I'm not going to post for awhile. Probably one or two months. I don't know exactly when I'll be able to post next. But here's the thing: the next chapter I post will be the last. Yeah, that's right, Two Halves, One Whole is ending next chapter. Sudden, I guess. But WORRY NOT, For it shall be a grand finale! Hopefully much longer than anything I've ever written before. I'm going to try to get it finished up within the next two months, because I'd rather have one big chapter after one long wait than a bunch on little ones where I have to worry about writing and finishing it. Well, thank you all for sticking with me through this less-than-perfect story, and I will see you in the next one to two months!_**

_**Moving on…. So I've been listening to Vitas a lot recently. Well, I already have been, name Opera #2 and Dedication. But I found a few more songs by him that I really like. And if you don't know who I'm talking about, youtube him!! I would suggest Opera #2 because that is his most popular song. So yeah.**_

_**Anyways, thanks for reading again, and I hope you'll stick with me to the very end, because lord knows I will be, whether or not I want to :D**_

_**I hope to hear from you all, because I oh so love to talk to you all. :)**_

_**Bye!**_


	24. Finale

_Now I suppose I could tell you everything else in detail, like how Allen and Atmintis became one, if only for a short while, or how I managed to defeat Ava Dzekunova by a hint of luck, but I'm going to leave our tale here. I will, however, mention the rest of our journey._

_After AllMintis (do you mind if I call him that?) defeated Icarus Nolan, they had a bit of a breakdown. Apparently minds shouldn't be joined like that. Allen took control of their body again, and Atmintis sank into the backseat. I defeated Ava, albeit painfully (She was such a small child…) and we hurried as quickly as we could to find everyone else._

_Anna and her group defeated Lulu Bell and Aitvi, but not without a heavy loss. Poor, sweet Bookman-san lost his life… Lavi was depressed for weeks once he found out._

_Speaking of Lavi…His group put down Tyki and the evil, evil Levrier. Headquarters and Central went into a frenzy over news of his astonishing betrayal, especially considering what he did to Allen. Anyways, I think it was Froi-san who ended up doing the defeating of Levrier, and Jinx got the finishing blow to Tyki. It's so sad… I thought Tyki could have been good._

_Kanda's group faced off against Skinn Bolic, Road and Jasdevi, even though they shouldn't have been alive. I think it was explained that the Earl brought them back, but I was too tried to really pay attention at the time._

_In the end, it was Anna, of all people, to slay the Earl. She and Allen made a wonderful tag team, able to overcome even the Millennium Earl. It was like they were one person, the way they moved so fluidly together. They pinned him down, and Anna made the finishing blow. We all tried to help, of course, but we were all blown away._

_Do you want to know something amazing? She and Allen are siblings. Twins, in fact. She never knew her real age, because their parents left different places. She grew up all alone, while Allen was lucky enough to find Mana._

_On the subject of Anna and Allen, after a good three years of searching, we found their biological parents. Their mother was an exorcist for the order, though she, in all of her years with us, used a fake name. Amazing, huh? Their father was, ironically, Tyki Mikk. A one night stand with a young girl as teenagers… He ran and never looked back before getting turned into a Noah. The mother, a teenager all alone in the world, abandoned her children in hope they would be found by good parents. She died some years after in a tough mission._

_After the war, we all found happiness in some form or another. Noise actually proposed to Miranda a couple of months after the end! It was so sweet. Lavi left to travel the world, and become the proper bookman that he said he really wanted to be. Brother found a nice lady in the supermarket, of all places, and now they're living happily with a few children of their own. Kanda went somewhere where nobody knows, but I'm sure he's doing just what he wants to, and just being Kanda._

_Anna is currently trying to build something she's calling an airplane, as all of our Innocence stopped functioning after the Earl's defeat. She's faced so much failure, but she's staying strong in hope that she'll be able to fly in the sky again._

_As for Allen? He asked the luckiest girl in the history of the world something that she had been wanting for a long, long time…._

Violet eyes scanned what she wrote as dark green hair edged her vision. She smiled, and wrote down the rest of entry into her thick journal. At the bottom she wrote a few more words, then closed the book with a satisfied sigh. Lenalee looked at her journal, thick and worn from the words and contents of her life's story.

"Lenalee? You coming to bed?" Allen called from the other side of an open doorway.

"Yeah, just a minute, I want to go make sure Emma is alright."

Lenalee walked out of the room and down the hallway of their house. She turned into a small little room with a cradle in the middle. Sleeping peacefully inside was a tiny little girl, unaffected by the rest of the world.

Lenalee smiled and tears welled up in her eyes at the thought that her daughter would grow up in a world without evil things like the Earl, or Levrier, or Noah, or Akuma.

Hands were suddenly around her waist as Allen slid up behind her. Perching his head her shoulder, he watched their daughter sleeping happily. He rubbed his face against Lenalee's playfully, letting his slight bit of unshaved facial hair tickle her cheek. Lenalee giggled and pulled away.

Allen laughed silently, but stopped and watched their daughter again. He looked at Emma, and then at Lenalee.

"I love you," Allen said with that clear, honest gaze that Lenalee loved so much.

And "I love you," Lenalee replied with a smile before snuggling up against him.

"And I love Emma, with all of my heart."

"As do I."

"Come on," Allen smiled and slightly pulled Lenalee toward the door. It was time to sleep.

They walked towards their room, and Lenalee realized that she forgot to turn off her desk lamp. Running inside that room, she reached for the lamp, but stopped when she saw her journal.

Opening it up, she looked at the last words she had written.

"_Lenalee Walker – Happily married August 3__rd__, 1905 - through the end of time."_

She smiled again, and switched off her light.

As she slipped under the covers next to Allen, she thought about many things. About all of her friends who had died. About all the sacrifices she had witnessed. About all of the happiest moments in her life. About all of the saddest.

Sure, there were a lot of unanswered questions. Where did Atmintis go? He suddenly left Allen's body. What about Ann? And Cross? Where did Cross disappear to?

Ah, it didn't matter. Lenalee was with the ones she loved most, and there was no longer anything to take that from her.

She turned and lay her head on Allen's shoulder, snuggling really closely. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, there was a loud cry of a tired and hungry baby.

Allen chuckled a little, and muttered "Your turn," which earned him a playful smack as Lenalee got up.

Yeah, things were going to be alright. No Earl, no Noah, and nothing to tear them apart. Life was good.

_**Since most of you already reviewed this chapter, you're going to need to review chapter 25 if you're gonna review.**_

_**Uwah! I hope you liked it… I know I said I wasn't going to finish it, but I thought randomly that an ending like this was better than no ending at all. I hope it was good, even though it was awkward and rushed, and I kind of wrote it in an hour. Anyways, leave me a review telling me what you think, kay? Thank you all so much for sticking with me for as long as you did, and for caring as much as you all have. I love each and every one of you, and thank you yet again. Hopefully you'll be able to read some more oneshots and stuff from me in the future, but I'm not so sure that I'll be doing any long series any time soon.**_

_**I wish you all luck in whatever you do, and goodbye everybody! Till next time, Do Svidanya!**_


	25. Note

Alright! I decided to finish this, and so if you'll look, you'll see a chapter labled "Finale"

What I did is submit it after my apology note so the notification came out, but now I'm switching that chapter with chapter 24. This shows as chapter 25, so now you have to go and read the last chapter!


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